Heartbeat of the Father
At a meeting Monday night, I was moved by the story of my dear friend, Elizabeth, hugging and praying for the father of the 14-yr old boy who took his own life in Hopkinton a few weeks ago. As they stood in a tight group with the boy’s cousin and other relatives, she found her head against the father's chest, and realized she could hear his heart. She was listening to the beating of this father’s broken heart for his child.
That image stuck with me. I keep thinking about it, the pain, the awful intense, heart-breaking pain of the father weeping for his son. Is there any consolation? The one you loved so well is gone forever. It is too late. You will never see his sweet face again. Why couldn’t you do more? Why didn’t he understand how much you loved him? You would have cut off your right arm, you would have laid your life down, but he didn’t give you a chance.
She was listening to the father's heart. Then the Spirit quietly challenged me and I thought of the heart of my own heavenly Father, breaking over so many lost and hurting souls. He weeps for the children who don't understand or accept his love. The Spirit within me was stirred. She heard that father's broken heart beating. Do I hear it? Do I know that heartbeat?
I remembered how Jesus hung on the cross to the bitter end, drinking the dregs of the penalty for my sin. How, when the Roman spear pierced his side, the blood and water came out. Literally, the sac around his chest cavity and heart had burst and Jesus died of a broken heart. Such incredible love! He knew no limit and stopped at nothing to show it. Jesus, like a lamb led to slaughter, displayed the ultimate measure of pain and sacrifice for us.
The Creator God took the form of a man and then let his own heart break for humanity. It’s true, his human heart exploded out of love for you and me.
OH GOD, help us to tune our ears to hear, really listen to your heartbeat. Teach me, Lord, to hear you in every day’s circumstances.
Yes Lord, to hear your heartbeat we have to be close. We have to be still. We have to be quiet.
Draw me closer, Lord. Help me understand the things that break your heart. Let me feel the compassion that moves you. Keep me in sync with the impulses of your love. Allow me to hear the quickening of your pulse and move me with your own passion for people.
Make me a woman after your own heart, Lord. Let my heart break for the things that broke yours. Set my heart on fire.
That image stuck with me. I keep thinking about it, the pain, the awful intense, heart-breaking pain of the father weeping for his son. Is there any consolation? The one you loved so well is gone forever. It is too late. You will never see his sweet face again. Why couldn’t you do more? Why didn’t he understand how much you loved him? You would have cut off your right arm, you would have laid your life down, but he didn’t give you a chance.
She was listening to the father's heart. Then the Spirit quietly challenged me and I thought of the heart of my own heavenly Father, breaking over so many lost and hurting souls. He weeps for the children who don't understand or accept his love. The Spirit within me was stirred. She heard that father's broken heart beating. Do I hear it? Do I know that heartbeat?
I remembered how Jesus hung on the cross to the bitter end, drinking the dregs of the penalty for my sin. How, when the Roman spear pierced his side, the blood and water came out. Literally, the sac around his chest cavity and heart had burst and Jesus died of a broken heart. Such incredible love! He knew no limit and stopped at nothing to show it. Jesus, like a lamb led to slaughter, displayed the ultimate measure of pain and sacrifice for us.
The Creator God took the form of a man and then let his own heart break for humanity. It’s true, his human heart exploded out of love for you and me.
OH GOD, help us to tune our ears to hear, really listen to your heartbeat. Teach me, Lord, to hear you in every day’s circumstances.
Yes Lord, to hear your heartbeat we have to be close. We have to be still. We have to be quiet.Draw me closer, Lord. Help me understand the things that break your heart. Let me feel the compassion that moves you. Keep me in sync with the impulses of your love. Allow me to hear the quickening of your pulse and move me with your own passion for people.
Make me a woman after your own heart, Lord. Let my heart break for the things that broke yours. Set my heart on fire.
posted by Karen Low Deloge at 11:04 AM
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