“But you, Oh LORD, know me; you see me and test my heart towards you” Jeremiah 12:3
I read this the other morning. It was one of those beautiful, delicious times on the deck. The dog and two cats were lying on the patch of sunlight coming through the trees. I’d been praying and enjoying time with Jesus over a cup of coffee when these pictures started to form in my mind as the Spirit spoke to my heart. Perhaps you can identify with this.
Sometimes (in error) I have conceptualized God’s testing of my heart like he is trying to push me till I break; finding all the weakest and most vulnerable places. Deeply I was believing a lie that God isn’t good nor does he act for my good, as in this scenario He has little involvement other than putting me through the hoops (sure there are all those verses about the good stuff that testing and trial produces, but if you start out believing the lie that God isn’t really that great, then none of those promises sound all that great either). Then this other picture: God’s testing of us also isn’t like sticking a toothpick in the brownies while they are baking. “Is she done yet?” Like at some point the beating and baking, trials and testing, will produce something he will find pleasing (which might be true, but I was in error on the process and his involvement). What then instead filled my mind was a picture of the most brilliant of engineers and inventors in the middle of sparks flying, molten steel, hammers crashing, huge beams being raised up on cranes and giant machines groaning as they lift massive loads from white-hot furnaces...He’s attending to a billion and one things, and yet at moments he’s looking through a magnifying glass making fine adjustments on a delicate piece he holds in his palm. The air is electric with the passion, dedication and joy of this artist. With each test he runs, he’s making his creation a little closer to perfection. With each trial, he is finding out where it breaks down and then actively removing that point of weakness to make it all the more magnificent. He has this glorious end in mind and his project requires that things be melted and molded, then refined down and hammered, pressed and polished, cut and fine-tuned. But all of it is done because he loves what he does and loves what he creates, all with a great, good, and perfect end in mind.
"Oh taste and see that the Lord, He is good!" Psalm 34:8
The delicious morning tasted that much sweeter. I encourage you to hang out in Psalm 63 as a post script.
God is good and He loves you no matter what you do.
ReplyDeleteI love you too! Mom