The first thing I saw was her circle around the sentence “Your parents may not have planned you, but God did.” (p 22 note) Like I said, this is a difficult subject. The Elephant in the room. In our culture, if the parents were not married or worse when the child was conceived, that has nothing to do with respect to the child’s character – their future – their value. But unplanned does not mean that God is not sovereign. Not intended should not mean not wanted, not accepted, or unloved. Although that may be true in our culture, in our families, it is not true from God's perspective. And that is Good News!
The child is not responsible for the actions of the biological parents. What was mom thinking about when she read those words? What was she feeling as she thought about her family? What I hope is that she felt peace, comfort, assurance, love and compassion. All of that from the heart of God. (2 Corinthians 1:20) “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.”
The thing about the human heart is that when it is wounded, it does not heal in the same way as, say, a broken leg. With a broken leg, approaching thunderstorms may cause that leg to ache some, but you don’t feel the pain of the fracture. You can think about it, but try as you might, you cannot conjure up the feeling to relive or re-feel that moment.
Not so with the heart. One word might be enough for the emotional pain to rush back just like it was happening again. The pain you feel is real. But, in Christ, it does not have to be that way. The thing is, if you will let the Lord bind your wounds, (1 Peter 5:7) “Cast all your cares on Him for He cares for you” (2 Corinthians 1:3) “God is the God of all comfort” there will be scars that remain on your heart, but they are scars, not wounds. What you cannot do in your heart, God can and will do, if you let Him.
Scanning the pages for second day to find mom’s comments and notations, I
wonder what she might have been feeling as she read the words and made her
annotations. There were a lot of things
that were not spoken of in our family. To discuss those things was taboo. I think there are many families like
that. It’s easy to “throw verses at
problems” as if you were throwing water on a fire. The thing is, the Word is Truth and the Truth
will set you free. (John 17:17, John 8:32) “Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise
him, my salvation and my God.” (Psalm 42:5) The Word of God brings healing.
Mom had circled theses
scripture references.
1.
Psalm 139:15, “My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the
secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth”.
2.
Psalm 139:16 “Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me
were written in your book before one of them came to be”
3.
Acts 17:26 “From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit
the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the
boundaries of their lands.”
She wrote her birthdate
1-29-25 in the margin. Underlining the words “Choosing
the exact time of my birth.” (p 23 note) God is sovereign. Romans
8:28 says "In all things He works for our good". In the midst of trouble that’s hard to
understand and perhaps even harder to accept.
At the bottom of the page
she wrote: “when He was on the
cross, I was on His mind.”
Oh, what peace and assurance she must have felt. She had ministered to so
many who struggled with their beginnings. What a great word it must have been. Reminding her that God is a God of grace and
mercy. As Jesus said to the adulteress,
“Woman where are your accusers … neither do I condemn you, go and sin no
more.” (John 8:11)
God does not make excuses for sin, but He does forgive the sinner through
faith in Jesus. He is the “Healer Of The
Heart”. I think perhaps this was a very
difficult chapter for my mom. Mom, after
her second beginning, had great compassion for people. That compassion was birthed out of her love
for God. Psalm 37:4 says “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the
desires of your heart.” I believe that
the psalmist was saying that when you focus on God and seek Him, He will change
the passion of your heart to match His passion.
God had most certainly changed my mom’s heart, He changed mine, and He
will change yours if you only ask Him and then let Him. Pretty cool.
Note:
Taken from The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren Copyright © 2002 by Rick
Warren. Use by permission of Zondervan. www.zondervan.com
No comments:
Post a Comment