Do I Really Want a Heart Like His?

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In my last post, I shared the lyrics of a song that really means a lot to me. The song is a prayer asking for God's heart, His eyes, His hands, and His feet. 

I wrote the post on Sunday. On Wednesday, I practiced the song with Rachel and her friend. Then on Thursday, the words of this song - especially the first verse - challenged me in a very practical way.

Give to me, Oh Lord
A heart that beats like Yours  
Full of compassion for the ones You love.

I'm training to be a substitute for staff who serve individuals with developmental disabilities. Sometimes this job is enjoyable. Other times, it is just downright difficult. Thursday was one of those difficult days. Due to privacy issues, I can't share details of how the day went. 

I will say, though, that I went home that night very tired. When I crawled into bed, a couple of the individuals who had been especially challenging that day kept coming to mind. Then, the words of the song came to mind. 

Give to me, Oh Lord
A heart that beats like Yours\
Full of compassion for the ones You love.

Were those words truly the prayer of my heart? Do I really want God's heart of compassion for the "difficult people" I sometimes have to work with? I can say that in this case...yes, I do. Not only do I want His heart. I need His heart in order to serve the people with whom I work.

A question remains. What about the other people around me? Around you? We all know people who are "difficult" in some way or another. Am I willing to ask for God's heart of compassion toward them? Are you willing to pray for a heart like His?

Give Me a Heart Like Yours

When I lived in Bali, Indonesia and worked with a terrific group of teenagers from the children's home, I had a favorite song. It was a prayer that I truly hoped would become the longing of the hearts of each of the teens in the group...and my heart as well.

I am back in Ohio now, and my church in having a 40-day prayer focus. This Indonesian song came to mind, and I searched the web to see if it had perhaps actually been translated from English. When I could not locate any song with English lyrics that went with the same tune, I decided to translate the song myself. Rachel and a friend of hers will sing it in church, probably sometime next month.

I'd like to share the words with you.

Give to me, Oh Lord
A heart that beats like Yours
Full of compassion for the ones You love.

Give to me, Oh Lord
Eyes that see like Yours
Open to see the harvest all around.

Give to me hands like Yours
Strong for the task You set before me.
Give to me feet like Yours 
Ready to walk the path You show me.

Give me, Lord
Give me, Lord
Give me a heart like Yours.

I don't know about you, but I think this would be a good prayer for all of us.

Playground Lesson 7: Jump Rope - Keeping In Sync With God's Heart

Cinderella

Dressed in yella

Went upstairs to

Kiss a fella.

Made a mistake.

Kissed a snake!

How many doctors

Did it take?

1 ... 2 ... 3 ... 4 ... 5 ... etc.

Do you remember that jump rope rhyme from your elementary school days?  That one and many more were standard fare on the school playground for me. Not that I was all that good at jump rope, mind you. Even so, I still liked to try. 

Two kids twirled the rope, while others lined up for a turn to "Play School". Each child started out at "Kindergarten" with the easiest rhyme. If she couldn't complete the task, she had to repeat that grade on her next turn. 

As each child successfully completed "Kindergarten", she graduated to "first grade" and so on all the way through "high school" with each rhyme getting more and more difficult. Only the very best made it all the way through.

Tell Me "My Story"

Rachel was sitting next to me …chattering away, as usual.  I’m not sure how, but somehow, the conversation turned  to her asking something about “her story”.  

She has heard this story many times before, but she never tires of hearing the details. She asks me questions so she can hear the details again and again.  

How I had prayed for her long before I never knew her.   

How I heard about her.  

How I got carsick on the trip to her village to pick her up.  (She never lets me leave out that detail.) 

What I thought when I first saw her.  

What she “said”. (Wa-a-a-a-a!)   

Her first bottle.   

First diaper. 

First ride in the car.   

How thankful I was that God had given her to me. 

Rachel is a very busy, active little girl, and often, even as she is talking about one thing, her mind always seems to be racing on to the next thing she wants to do or say.  But not this time.  I looked over at her as I was answering her questions and saw her leaning back into her seat looking at my face with absolute rapt attention.  She was hearing “her story”.  The story of how God brought us together.  The story that affirms how very much she is wanted and loved.  At that moment, to her, nothing was more interesting.

It occurs to me that that in the Bible, God tells us “our story” as well.  Yes, it is overall the story of Jesus, and God’s plan to bring people back to Himself when we were far away from Him.  But in a very real sense, it is also “my story”. 

In the Bible, I can find the story of how much God loved me and longed for me to be close to Him.  In His Word, He tells me how he sought me out, rescued me, and brought me home.  This story tells of the rejoicing in heaven when one sinner repents and comes home to the Father.  It is a story of a love so big that even my love for my daughter is small in comparison.  I have heard that story many times during my life. May I never tire of hearing it.  

For God so loved the world ... (John 3:16)

For God so loved ... ME!

This  post is taken from one of my old newsletters that was written when Rachel was four years old.  

From newsletter 20100706