Police officers lined the alley way. Lights spinning, uniforms surrounding the yellow “caution” tape protecting a scene, I could not fully see.
I was on my way to Pediatric Cardiology, for an ecocardiogram of an infant. Stop lights dead for blocks around, business people standing around, holding coffee, staring at the scene I knew was tragic.
The more I drove, the more distracted I was. “What happened to shut down lights and traffic for nearly a mile radius?”
This wasn’t Brooklyn. This was the city I played kickball in, on the street corners, on hot summer nights, as a child.
It was my home town.
I crept on, through multiple four-way stops, peering deep and wide for some idea of what had happened.
And often, I can live like that…Watching news, keeping my eyes fixed to the latest events, as if knowing will bring peace, understanding the state of the world will offer some assemblence of pseudo control…
And rest…..Oh, how this world longs for rest in the depths of its soul.
Tweet ThisThe whole time I check in at Children’s, my mind kept shifting to dozens of patroling officers. Why the nearly mile of lost electricity? Why the yellow tape, and people staring?
Seeing brought even more curiousity. And knowledge brought almost an obsession of current events I ultimately and realistically would never have any control over.
My mind was reeling. Meditation on this tragedy grew, until I finally realized, rest was something I desperately needed.
This morning, I open my Bible and stumble upon Hebrews 3, verse 6.
“Christ was faithful over His Father’s house, as a son. And it is we who are now members of this house, IF we hold fast and firm to the end, our JOYFUL and EXULTANT CONFIDENCE and SENSE OF TRIUMPH in our HOPE IN CHRIST.”
Joy? Exultant confidence? Sense of triumph? Hope in Christ?
Not exactly what I was feeling when I dropped open the large, black Bible, under a nodding head, this morning.
I read on…
It was a warning about not hardening our hearts in bitterness, like in the day of rebellion. (v. 8)
And can’t we see, in a world where people get shot, children have heart issues, a whole world is bleeding about borders, babies, and civil right issues…
It can be easy to become bitter, lost, seeking answers, loosin our place of rest, joy, confidence and triumph, losing hope, forgetting our position of faith resides in our Father’s House.
They lay her on a padded table. Stickers placed to her tiny chest, as I ache inside for answers to the mysteries only He can comprehend.
The machine starts working. “Thump. Thump. Thump.”
Her heart…
I hold toys over her head, feed, and play with a shiny ball above her to keep her still and quiet.
This whole heart thing, is quite a big deal…not just for man, but for God.
Hebrews 3 goes on…
God’s people were tested. But testing led to bitterness, then to hardness of hearts.
As a result, His people errored and were led astray in their hearts because they had not perceived or recognized God’s ways. (v. 10)
God’s people mistakingly failed to become PROGRESSIVELY BETTER or MORE experimentally and INTIMATELY ACQUAINTED with Him.
God then warned them, and us, BEWARE lest there be any one of you with a wicked, UNBELIEVING HEART are led to turn away or STAND ALOOF from the LIVING GOD. (v. 12)
Gasp.
Too many times, I had been busy looking down the next alleywat for what dangers might lie ahead. Too much time of my life, I had spent letting “spotlights” distracting me, “badges and tragic stories” harden the alley ways of my soul…
Unknowingly…
I recognized, I had slowly begun to depend upon what my eyes saw versus what God told me in the quiet, intimate moments with Him.
I started trusting man, more than listening to Him. And it wa clear, I had fallen out of rest.
I found diagnosis, and sin, and hard things hardening my heart in aloofness, thinking I can trust God for some things…but honstly, I questioned His Sovereignty about others.
“Thump. Thump. Thump.”
I see the four chambers of a heart that was as big as a tangerine. Eyes fix to a screen, dumfounded at how amazing our God must be, to make a heart so fragile and tender, yet strong and complicated.
Blood was flowing, a heart taking life to every extremity. The heart was soft, pallable, central, and is vital to the body’s every area of health.
I lock my eyes to that screen for well over an hour. I couldn’t get over how beautiful God made each of us, His children.
And yet, in Scripture this morning, God warns us to check our hearts.
He is the one who tests our heart’s inner health, watching carefully, ensuring, we remain tender, compliant, and obedient to His will.
And I realize, we basically have two choices…
- We can let the testing and hard things in this life distract us, harden us, drive us into sin, leading us down a path to unbelief, distancing us from Him. Or….
- We can admonish, urge, encourage one another every day, so that none of us may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. (v.13) We can let our trials draw us close to Him.
Friends, we have become heirs with Christ, sharing in ALL he has for us, IF only we hold to our first, newborn confidence and original expectation, firm and unshaken to the end. (v.14)
“Hear His voice and when you hear it, do not harden your hearts.” (Heb 3:15)
We can enter His 
rest…a rest that brings peace and tranquility, a knowledge that our faith isn’t dependent on our striving or efforts, and ultimately, is a gift…
We don’t need control over everything around us. We didn’t make the heart of a child, can be everywhere at once, or dictate change on the world stage, like any of us might truly want…
But what we can do is this…
- Abide in Christ.
- Let testing draw us to His side, looking back and remembering His faithfulness. He brought us through the desert faithfully, and He will do it again.
- Submit in complete obedience to Him.
- Keep our heart tender.
- Don’t get trapped by the luring and deceitfulness of sin.
- Hear his voice and when we do, trust it, instead of hardening our hearts in disobedience.
- We can grow in faith, progressively becoming better and more intimately acquainted with Him.
- We must, hold fast and firm in faith to the end, despite any trials we may be experiencing.
Friends, there is rest when we realize our faith isn’t about our works, rest comes from abiding daily, in an increasingly closer measure, to His presence and goodness.
Despite city civil workers blocking streets, and a world sick with heart problems…WE can be different. We can walk by faith.
Let’s choose to abide close to His heart, so our own hearts will remain soft, pliable, and consecrated, finding true rest in Jesus, our Savior, the great High Priest in whom we confess. (Hebrew 3:1)
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4 Comments
I loved your “But we can do is this…” list. Thank you. Such good reminders for today.
Beautiful, Jen. This >> “Let’s choose to abide close to His heart, so our own hearts will remain soft, pliable, and consecrated…” Only as our hearts remain pliable in His hands will we be able to effect change in this world so in need. Such a good reminder for these days we are in. Blessings!
LOVE your soft, pliable heart, dear Jenger, and I know for a fact, that God adores you.
This is a good message for us all, as abiding close to His heart is the only way we will get through all that LIFE throws at us.
Trust the little one is doing well, and that she will continue to grow stronger under your tender, loving care. xx
Love your post Jen and I especially love the verses you chose, about hearing from God and encouraging each other. That is what I wrote about last week as I introduced my book launch team . would you consider being a part of it with me? We will have a ton of fun over the summer 🙂 Blessings and thanks for the linkup