Regenerated Heart with MORNA

I had the privilege of being interviewed on Words to Live By and it is available at www.words.net and the date is October 2, 2009.

 www.rbc.org (radio/tv link – then Words to Live By link)

This broadcast will be on 325 stations worldwide including Canada, the Caribbean, Singapore, the Philippines, Central America, and South Africa.

Morna

www.regeneratedheart.com

“A woman’s heart should be so hidden in Christ

that a man should have to seek Him first

to find her.”

I’ve been in a desert lately – feeling rather parched and empty.  I’ve actually been trying to fill my empty soul with lots of Bible reading and book reading on the good side, and eating (not goodL) on the bad side.  

I know God is still here/there – so I plod on through the sand, wind, and heat knowing He will administer an oasis with precision timing.

I actually read three books in the past five days – that’s how starved I’ve been!  “Do Hard Things” by Brett and Alex Harris, “Why Pray?” by Philip Yancey, and “When God Breaks Your Heart” by Ed Underwood are the books I have devoured.  I highly recommend all three of them.

The thought I woke up with this morning comes from John 11 (the theme of “When God Breaks…”) where Jesus is speaking to Martha at the onset of raising Lazarus up from the tomb. Both pondering Mary and practical Martha had approached Jesus, when he arrived to do his ministering, in their typical manner:  Martha – running anxiously demanding an answer (vs. 20); and Mary – waited to be summoned by the Lord, and then responded obediently (vs. 28-29).

Both stated, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” (vs. 21, 32)

Jesus comes to the tomb and makes a request for the stone to be taken away.

Martha does what so many of us do: “But Lord…by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”  (vs. 39)

How many times do we say: “BUT Lord?!”  

We always seem to have a practical and logical reason to say “but Lord…” don’t we?

Jesus replied by saying, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?”  (s. 40)

This verse has gripped my heart with the reality of living by faith in a God Who is sovereign-ly faithful. I wonder how many times I fail to believe He is always at work and never sleeps – or I fail to believe that He truly loves me – or that His timing is always perfect or I fail to believe that He can only demonstrate perfect love, mercy, and truth because that is Who He is? He cannot do otherwise.

And yet, I fail to believe at times that He has my best interest in mind.

“…if you believed…you would see my Glory.”

This hits me hard especially in light of my husband losing one of his two jobs – meaning we are desperately in need of more income. Or when I face the trials of remembering past pains and have to face those people one more time. Or when I have to return a phone call to someone who hurts me deeply and I’m not sure I can take their comments. Or when my body feels horrid and is not cooperating. Or when I read the news – the politics – the direction our country is spiraling into – do I truly believe He is still on the Throne?

And yet, He says, “If you believe – you will see my Glory.” 

This is not saying that in the midst of the storm my specific prayer requests, my timing or my wishes will actually happen the way I desire them to happen. In reality this verse is promising that if I am committed to responsibly believing He is capable of choosing what is best, then He is committed to fulfill His promise: “YOU will see my Glory!”

We believe and then will see Him in the midst of our drama!

Therefore, anything that comes into our life is an opportunity to demonstrate faith – for without faith it is impossible to please Him (Hebrews 11:6) – and more importantly it is an opportunity for Him to demonstrate HIS GLORY!

Isn’t that what we are on planet earth for? Isn’t that the ultimate in blessing: to experience His Holy Presence in our circumstances?

If you believe – you will see His Glory. It’s a promise.

Even from the desert – a cactus flower can bring His Glory to a weary soul.