When I read that verse this morning what caught my attention more than the words was the explanation point! I am on my second to last book of the Bible and after 10 years of going through it verse by verse, word by word, I am hard pressed to come up with another one of those emphasis points. So, after my little punctuation reaction I looked back at what was so important. It was that hearts would be alive! (emphasis God) :)
I have spent, as you can well imagine, much time mulling over the concept of how God recaptures our hearts. But it had been a very long time since I contemplated the vitality of the heart He was holding onto. I think in the midst of famines my hearts that God is reaching for gets as shrivled at the dry wheat in a field vacant of water. Like a raisin. Is that sick or what. Shrivled, wrinkled, a bitter reflection of what it once was. How do you like that for graphic!
What a very cool reminder today that it is not enough to stand in the drying out field of my life and to not move despite the harsh winds that blow there at times. It is not enough to let my heart dry up in the famine, my hopes, dreams, and expectations fading with each passion day. Its basically not enough just to survive. He really wants to recapture hearts that are actually still beating!
Hearts full of energy despite the lack of... whatever they are missing. Hearts that don't live life in spite of anything, but in everythings somehow keep moving in the direction of God. After all, if I looked back at my little portion of a verse, before the explanation point, even before the comma, there are some pretty important words... "you who seek God" So even if I am in the middle of a desert, and can do nothing but stand in a dry field, there is a way I can be seeking God. Hoping in Him. Listening to Him. Waiting for Him! Ouch, that may be the hardest. After all I can seem alive for only so long. Its like holding your breath underwater, you can feel good for the first few seconds but then a panic sets in as your lungs begin to scream for what they need. Our hearts can do that too I believe as we wait out some pretty long famines. They can cry out for an answer. That sounds like life to me. And it also sounds like seeking as well. Maybe hearts that are alive are a bit loud, wet, and need a shock from time to time. That is truly better than the raisin kind that have little life left. Certainly nothing to squeeze out! So I am paying attention to God's punctuation today and while I am waiting for some famines to end, while He is using a variety of things to recapture my heart, while I am waiting... I am going to not forget to live!
Thank you so much for writing Recapture!! I have learned so much and been challenged so much!!! Thank you for writing a book that has changed my life!!!
ReplyDeleteIt's so funny you would focus on that exclamation point. I love seeing those in the Bible, even if rarely. They somehow humanize the author a little more, allowing us to hear their excitement. So, yes, we need to search for ways to live/breathe in the midst of waiting on Him to reveal His purposes for our famines. Because if we kept holding our breath, as you said, we would drown. Thanks for the encouragement!!
ReplyDeleteThe idea of God recapturing the heart of His children is something I have never before heard explained quite the way you do, Becky. I do understand it though-- not intellectually, but in my gut, my spirit, my inner being. Thank you for your words that lift the heart and cause others to look up, even in times of despair.
ReplyDeleteOnce again Thank You for your encouraging words. I get truly paralized when I think of the world the way it is. I want to hide and not deal with anythng. You and your book have given me hope, the hope I need to pull back the covers and stregnth I need to get up in the morning. I can do this, God is with me every step of the way.
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