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Monday, March 29, 2010

The following entry is taken from a friend from her facebook note.
I'm sure this will bless each of you.

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Sometimes with our well, yet misplaced, intentions, we rob a grieving person of her journey through sorrow; and the subsequent healing that comes forth.

When someone we love expresses sorrow, we are quick to dispense our well meaning advice. Quick fix solutions that seek to rescue the one we love from further despair. Because we care.

We do not realise that this is selfish, hurtful and dehumanising to the hurting. We rob the other of what it means to be human. That is, as one who is capable of feeling hurt. Of the ability to sorrow. To experience loss.

While approving of jubilant emotions, we want to silence the other emotions that remind us of the falleness of man. And possibly, of our own pains.

Heroic in our efforts to set things straight and to point the light, we say things like," You shouldn't feel that way." Or "Don't cry. It's not all that bad ..." Not realising that all these words mean ,"I DO NOT VALIDATE WHAT YOU FEEL." "IT IS WRONG TO HAVE THOSE FEELINGS..."

Have we forgotten that we have a High Prest who is touched with the feelings of our infirmities? The Greek word there for "touched with the feelings of" is sumpatheo. Not only does it mean to have compassion, it also literally means to be "touched with the feeling of". Jesus feels what you feel!

He doesn't get uncomfortable when someone cries, and therefore He doesn't seek to quickly "rectify" the "problem". Like a Friend who knows how to weep with those who weep, He sits beside me with sumpatheo.

And at the right time, He puts his arm around me.
No words. No cut and dried answers. No ill-timed bible scriptures.
Just an embrace that says "I know how you feel. And I am here."

That to me, is my pool of spring, in my Valley of Weeping.

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@ 7:50 PM

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Matthew 13:23
But what was sown on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.

There are two elements here; hearing and understanding. Here we see that when a word is sown, it is up to the receiver on how he/she wants to receive it that determines the outcome of the seed.

Notice also, there are different amount produced in each harvest. Thirty, sixty and hundredfold. Of which, a hundredfold is more than both thirty and sixtyfold added together.

Luke 8:15
But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by preserving produce a crop.

This is the same parable in another reference. The two elements here are; the kind of heart and the action that you take after hearing it.

The kind of heart is described as "noble" and "good". "Good" can also be translated into "honest". The first requirement is honesty, openness or sincerity which is covering nothing up, or not having double-dealing or having double standards.

The actions that are taken after hearing it contains three steps; hearing, retaining and persevering. The course of our lives ultimately depend on the choices we make, and not on our feelings.

Are you going to aim for a hundredfold, or are you going to be content with sixty or thirtyfold? What you achieve will depend on the response of your heart.

There are two sides to our relationship with God; what God makes available to us, and how we respond to what God makes available. What will be decisive in your life is how you respond.

Will you choose God's best for you life?