Category Archives: Outdoor world

Wounded Hearts

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Recently at the beach I came across a beautiful heart-shaped stone the size of a fifty-cent piece. As I brushed off the sand, I saw it wasn’t a keeper, because it had a hole all the way through it. I dropped it and stepped over it, but several paces later decided to go back and get it. Suddenly a holey heart seemed more realistic than a perfect heart-shaped rock, a reminder of the wounded hearts common to all of us.

Very few people are strangers to heartbreak. Whether it’s cruel criticism, a betrayed confidence, a personal rejection, or a piece of bad news, everybody gets wounded at one time or another. When Nate received the shock of stage 4 terminal cancer, both of us took a heart-stabbing. Then 42 days later when death snatched him away, a second wound came, at least for me.

Why does God allow us to feel deep heart-hurts? Couldn’t he emotionally anesthetize us, at least a little? A woman in childbirth can opt to be partially paralyzed (temporarily) through an epidural nerve block. She remains alert and participates in the birth, but most of her pain is eliminated. Couldn’t God allow us to experience a broken heart in a similar way, without the stabbing emotional pain that always accompanies it?

A friend of mine, Judy Allen, made an astute observation about all this. Because she’s always looking to “connect the dots to God,” she’s noticed something interesting. She said, “Sometimes the only way into a person’s heart is through a deep wound.”

God is no stranger to hard hearts. Again and again in the Old Testament he describes the children of Israel as having hardened their hearts toward him, and in the New Testament he repeatedly warns us not to harden our hearts for several good reasons:

Scripture says resistant hearts end up as ignorant ones, meaning that people who oppose God are asking for trouble, and usually they find it. He also says hard hearts find it difficult to understand what he wants to teach them. They’re closed off to his wisdom and devoid of spiritual understanding.

As a result, and because he loves us, he’ll step back and permit a deep heart-wounding, but it’s always and only to get a place of entry. Then after that, beneficial things begin to happen. Wounded hearts gradually change from tough to tender, from resistant to receptive, and best of all, from cold to affectionate… toward him. In that condition, a broken heart is ready for his supernatural mending.

I hope I never experience a spiritual heart of stone, but if I do, my holey heart-stone will be a ready reminder of what to do.

“Blessed is the one who always trembles before God, but whoever hardens their heart falls into trouble.” (Proverbs 28:14)

Link to Judy Allen’s blog: www.ConnectingDotsToGod.com

 

Pick-up sticks

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Some people think God gets pleasure out of manipulating us, as if we were the sticks in a pick-up game: flick one here, put pressure on another there, and roll someone else away. But that’s a skewed analysis. Of course he could use his power that way if he wanted to, but the Almighty only maneuvers people around if the end result will be their betterment.

As I walk the dog on our route to the beach, one long stretch of road is bordered by forest on both sides, with beautiful views every-which-way. The pavement was laid half way up a giant dune, which leaves a descending valley on one side and an ascending hill on the other.

If a tree goes down in a wind storm, residents prefer to let it be, allowing the natural process of forestation to take over. So after a wild winter, the valley might resemble a game of pick-up sticks being played by a couple of massive storybook giants.

Sixty-foot long trunks lie in a jumble, giving the impression they were tossed there by the hand of God. We look at the disorder and think, “If we could get a crane down there to line up the trunks, and a saw to chop them into 24” lengths, we could stack them in cords and neaten up the valley.”

We’re tempted to think this way about the fall-out from storms in our lives, too. When bad news comes (as it eventually does to us all), life feels as chaotic as the forest floor looks. We think, “God is manipulating me and my life, and now I’m in a mess with huge problems. If only he would straighten it all out… and do it now!”

But maybe we can take a lesson from the forest. After trees have been thrown down by severe winds, their trunks settle on top of each other in pick-up-stick disarray, with no power to change their positions. But as they’re left alone, forest plants begin to slowly grow over them, attractive ground covers like ivy, myrtle, and pachysandra.

The mix of plants, bark, wood, and dirt gradually morphs into rich topsoil to nourish the plants, and when next year’s spring arrives, fallen tree trunks will be dotted with wildflowers. Although the start-to-finish process takes time and begins with the chaos of trees crashing down, the end result is peaceful beauty.

In the same way, if we trust God to work with us through our illnesses, accidents, break-ups, and other problems, when we come to the end of them, he’ll reveal some special gifts we couldn’t have come into any other way.

At the conclusion of a game of pick-up sticks, all we have is one winner. But at the end of our trials, if we stick with the Lord, he is sure to do something spectacular for not just one of us but for every one of us.

“God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive…” (James 1:12)

No Bones About It

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My dog Jack has his own following, and we frequently run into members of his fan club as we take our walks around the neighborhood. It’s not unusual for an oncoming car to stop just ahead of us, its driver hopping out to make contact. “Oh, Jack! I’m so glad to see you!”

The list of those who love him doesn’t end at the gate to our neighborhood, either. If I take him to the bank, tellers Ann and Cathy always have treats ready, even if we’re in the drive-through. When they spot his profile in the back seat, the tube-traveling canister quickly brings a bone right out to him.

Like most dogs, Jack shows appreciation by tail-wagging. We’ve learned to read his wags and have them categorized: high, medium, and low. Maybe it’s because he’s got a thick tail, but most of his wags are mediums and lows. Whatever the reason, a high wag is saved for only the best of friends.

One of Jack’s many fans stands above the rest, someone who receives lots of high wags. Her name is Karen, and she lives just around the corner from us. Karen loves dogs and often babysits for other people’s canines. But she keeps a special box of Milk Bones in her kitchen just for Jack.

Every time we walk near Karen’s house, Jack begins watching for her, his head turned and eyes glued to the front door, even after we’ve passed. If Karen sees us going by, she comes outside ready to give hugs, back rubs, kisses, and a bone to her furry friend. He loves her back with enthusiasm.

But Karen does even better than that. She faithfully leaves a bone on her front step for him. From the street Jack looks, wags, and strains at his leash, pleading to “go to Karen’s.” When I unclick him, he runs to her front door, stepping over the treat, in hopes of getting to her. If she doesn’t appear, he heads back for his treat. What he really wants, though, is Karen.

Jack has never doubted the strength of her love for him. If he didn’t know how to wag, she’d love him anyway, and he knows that. If he was hot and tired, unable to head for her porch, she’d come to the street to greet him. It doesn’t matter to her how Jack behaves. She loves him no matter what.

This relationship is a sterling example of exactly how the Lord loves all of us. It’s a no-matter-what kind of love that never wavers, regardless of what we do. The question is, do we love him back as enthusiastically as Jack loves Karen?

After a few minutes with her, I re-leash Jack and tug him toward home. But he always looks back longingly for just one more glimpse of the one who loves him so well, the one he enthusiastically loves back in return.

“Let your unfailing love surround us, Lord, for our hope is in you alone.” (Psalm 33:22)