(Worth the 15 minutes to watch)
I began my prayer this morning with a heavy heart for each of my three children. I prayed that God would bless my children and bring them closer to Him. I prayed for my wife and our relationship. I prayed for my children's mother. While Praying for myself I asked God why there is so much turmoil in my life and why I can't seem to get ahead. I've been a "nice" guy, I give to causes, I don't take what is not mine, I hurt when I see people hurt... yet, there's always trouble in my life! This morning I received an answer that hit me pretty hard:
"If all was good in your life, you would no longer have an occasion to spend time with me!"
But, I have always thanked God for my meals, warm sunny days, puppies and kittens, etc... Just the other day I was on my motorcycle and a slow eighteen-wheeler got in front of me and my response was "Thank you God for protecting me from something that might have happened if this truck had not slowed me down." So... In my head I rationalize that I DO talk with God and ALL the time, so what could God be telling me? Could I be wrong about God's response?
Shortly afterward I continued with my morning ritual of searching YouTube for perspectives on problems in the world. Most often, the videos zero in on Islam and terrorists, but this morning right after my prayer, I found this video about a Muslim man who found Christ, only because his heart was lower than his knees and his knees were on the ground! This video clarified what God's message to me meant! This man found God because he cried out from his heart! His intellect was shaped and molded by the Koran and Islam, but he cried from his heart - instead of from his head! I cried while watching this man's testimony and now I know what I have been missing all along! I study my bible, listen to sermons, and rationalize God in my mind, but I've never been on my knees long enough to let the cry be from my heart! I have over-intellectualized my faith! I have processed God through my own logic filters, and I am missing out on what He wants for me! It is a blessing from God that I never had to walk in this man's shoes. I have become an armchair Christian giving glory to God from a climate controlled living room! How easy is that? Have I simply come to expect comfort in my life while my whiney tears fall into the plush carpet beneath my feat? Do I "know" hardship that I can petition God for relief?
God please forgive my selfishness and teach me to trust you each day for that day's needs! Thank you God for my troubles, as small as they be, because they tell me that you are mindful of me and you are helping me to grow in faith!
There's a reason God says He knows our "hearts" before we pray. Right or wrong, good or bad, the heart is where God finds truth! Our truths, which cannot be misrepresented to Him by our minds or our mouths! What I am particularly touched by in this video is the man's recollection of the day he was forgiven and felt the love of Christ! WOW!!! God truly can, and will, take something bad and bring good out of it! Not a one of us is an exception to that so no matter how the world and its agents would hold you down or accuse you - rise up in the redeeming power of God's FORGIVENESS and LOVE!
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