Scripture Notes: Psalm 34 (Benefit of the Broken Heart)

“The Lord hears His people when they call to Him for help. He rescues them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; He rescues those whose spirits are crushed.” -Psalm 34:17-18 (NLT)

There have been times of deep brokenness in my life that have led me to seek Scripture for a taste of hope. Psalm 34 gives lots of hope for a hurting person. I ran across this chapter in my Bible and saw a note from a few years ago I had written in the margin…

I have been rescued and restored so many times. I am a testimony to the Lord’s constant presence. So is the heartache a bad thing, really? Would I have known the Lord with this depth without a broken heart?

The broken heart is worth it for that depth.

That old phrase “whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger” rings true here in the context of God’s response to the calamity. If He has called us to a challenge, He either has already equipped us or will equip us soon to get through that challenge. From my own experience, every time we face these broken places in our lives by clinging to God and finding shelter in His presence, we know Him deeper.

Consider this: how well do you know a person’s clothing?  You see them from far off and they have on a blue shirt, but the closer you get, you see the blue shirt is actually a white shirt with blue pinstripes. Upon closer inspection, you see that the pinstripes aren't even solid lines, but rather, broken stitches in a line.

This is how it is with God.

We see Him better when we get closer to Him. And sometimes, getting closer only happens when we are clinging desperately to Him for help, guidance, or strength in our broken state.

The broken heart is worth it for that.

From my friends at Second Chance Upscale Resale

The Weak, the Fatherless, the Poor, and the Oppressed.... and My Response

Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. (Psalm 82:3)

The Team and I in Moldova, October 2010, working with Phillip and Chrissie Cameron at Stella's Voice

Tonight, some of my friends and I discussed the account of Israel in Judges 19.  It's a tough story.  It's the sin of the movie "Taken" in Bible times.  It's vulgar, painful, brutal, and ugly.  It's a modern day horror story.  

I have read it before, but life's twists and turns have given me a totally different perspective.  A big supporter and promoter of anti-trafficking movements and causes, I read the account last night and asked God: "What did this woman do to deserve that treatment?"

The answer? Nothing.  She didn't deserve the treatment at all.  

Then why?  I want to ask God this question.  OK, I did ask God that question.  "Why did You allow her to be used and abused like that?"  

My friend Phillip Cameron feels the same way about the ugliness of trafficking.  When telling his account of a girl named Stella (read the full account here), he says "I just can’t come to terms with the callousness and systemic wickedness that permitted such an awful thing to happen to anyone..."

I don't have the answer to this "why" question whether it is regarding this unnamed concubine, a girl in Moldova named Stella, or any other people that are currently being used and abused in hell holes all around the world.  All I have is anger for the act.  All I can do is pray for protection for those who are not protected, mourn for the hurting,  and beg God, in His mercy, to shut down the evil hand that compels those acts.  

My meeting was difficult tonight, because I came away with another perspective, but my heart still hurts.  My throat was still swollen with choked-back tears as I read the story with my friends again and thought of the people I've heard first-hand stories of in Moldova, in Florida, and in Ecuador, all on the brink of death after similar encounters with this evil.  

I can be positive every day and search for good in everything, but there is no denying the fact that evil exists in this world in very real ways to people I see every day.  Don't mistake my search for joy in life with my realization that this pain is a very, very, real thing to many, and it is not fair.  

So I have a choice.  Where do I go from here?  What do I do with this burden?  Well, I tell you about it.  I make you aware of this hidden, yet common, brutality, and that there is no excuse for the behavior.  I continue supporting and promoting movements, causes, and organizations that fight trafficking (see some links below).  And I look for every opportunity I have to stand up for the weak and wounded, while trusting in the power of God to apply justice where justice is due.

And until heaven, I do what I can to see others find freedom that, truly, cannot be found except by a miracle of an All-Powerful God.  

Please, PLEASE, help fight the cause of the weak, the fatherless, the poor, and the oppressed of our generation.  

Useful Sites:

Humantrafficking.org

Kaleo Kids and Dunamis

New Hope Trust

One Way Out Ministries

Southwest Florida Human Trafficking Coalition

Stella's Voice

US Department of State Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (TIP)

(Thanks to Pastor Phillip Gonzales for his insight on the story in Judges...)

Unfailing

I fail often.

People right now in my life are failing me.

I don't hate people because they fail or else I would have to hate myself. Failure tells me you're human, and I can deal with that, because I am too. There is a gut-punching feel that hits when someone fails me, though, until I remember that I have probably failed them too.

But God doesn't fail. In fact, He is so good at being God that He can even take my failures and my friends failures and make something really cool out of them.

Think: gift basket. You may have five types of soap, some silly decorative items, and some random candles. These can all be useless to you (perhaps), but when you put them all together for a gift, you create a spa gift for a friend.

I'm hoping for some gift-basket blessings that come from my failures, and your failures, so that together we can be a huge blessing to people in need around us - and to each other!

If you're having trouble believing that God can use you - messed up you - (like messed up me) - I encourage you to challenge Him by offering Him yourself.  Despite the failures, offer yourself to Him, and work with what He gives you to show you that your life still matters.

...and trust that He will never fail you.

Abortion, the Holocaust, and Salvation

Isaiah 1:18
Come now, let us reason together....

I'm not a fan of trickery or fooling people.  I'm very passionate about people knowing Christ and committing their lives to Him, but no change comes from deception.  This is why I so appreciate Ray Comfort's approach with people.  Give him a chance - he may come off as pushy at first, but you will see towards the end that he was only provoking conversation.  There's no commitment card signed by people in this video, only thought-provoking conversations that encourage people to make an informed decision in their own time.

I also appreciate his down-to-earth approach at the fact that we are all sinners - none of us are perfect, none of us are worthy of God's favor.  But we have a "parachute", we have a "bridge", we have a "lifeline", and that is Jesus Christ.

I encourage you to watch this video if you have not.  What are your thoughts?

Construction In Progress-Pardon My Dust

Pardon My Dust

There's a song we sang when I was little...

He's still workin' on me
To make me what I oughta be
It took Him just a week to make the moon and the stars
The sun and the earth and Jupiter and Mars
How loving and patient He must be
'cause He's still workin' on me...

There really oughta be a sign upon my heart
'Don't judge him (her) yet, there's an unfinished part!'
But I'll be perfect just according to His plan
Fashioned by the Master's loving hands.

Often times, I mess up or I do something not exactly the way it should have been done, and I sigh and sing that song to myself.  I'm constantly reminded that I'm not perfect, and that I'm not "finished" yet.  God still is molding and making me into His image! It's sobering and comforting at the same time. 

So if you know me personally, please exercise grace and mercy with me.  I know I'm not perfect; I know I'm still learning; I know there's a lot of dust during my construction.  Please pardon it.  And I will do my sincere best to offer the same back to you. 

I was quickened to write this thought after reading a devotional today.  If you'd like to read it also, which I would encourage, you can click HERE. 

Be blessed today - we've been given ANOTHER DAY to spend with God loving on each other.  Make the most of it!  :)

Giving time to Anger

Ephesians 4:26 (MSG)

Go ahead and be angry.  You do well to be angry-but don’t use your anger as a fuel for revenge.  And don’t stay angry.  Don’t go to bed angry.  Don’t give the Devil that kind of foothold in your life.

I was talking with a new friend today.  A very positive person, I wondered how they would answer the question:  what makes you angry?

It’s easy for me to assume something makes everyone angry.  And perhaps that’s still true, but my friend’s response got me to thinking about what I possibly waste on anger.  

Let me explain – 

Anger should always only be temporary.  The Bible talks about letting go of the anger because if we do not, the Devil will have a place in our life to step in and control us like a puppeteer.  

So my challenge to myself is this: don’t go to bed angry.  Also, never give anger more than a moment’s thought during the times that it does come around.  

Every moment angry is a moment for the Devil to move closer to me, and that’s the last thing I want. No dancing with the Devil for me, sir.  No thanks!

And what do I waste?  I waste time to praise and thank God.  It seems like only moments now, but when I get to heaven one day, I don’t want to have wasted a single moment on anger when I could have invested it in my Lover, my King, my Savior.

Anger Management Class...

2012 Goal: Be Who I Was Made To Be

There are things that we have to do in life that - man - we just do not want to do.  We don't want to face the challenge, we don't want to deal with the possibility of defeat, nor do we want to fail.  We sometimes play the voices of our past critics in our head and battle their attacks with ways we can be better to, essentially, prove them wrong.

Last year, my brother went through Officer's Candidate School, and was thrown into a class of incredible, incredible men and women all pining to be dubbed officer's for the US Army.  His class's cutoff scores for physical fitness was higher than any other class before him, and he made it by a hair.  Every day was a challenge - a good one, at that - but a challenge nevertheless.

During this same time, I was taking state exams and not doing so well on them.  I've always been a high achiever, so it hit me hard to be so uncertain about my scores.  My brother was able to call me for a few minutes one day, and we talked about how what really matters at this point is that we have done our absolute best, and that we pass the test.  Not that we actually come in first place, but that we pass.  We've both found ourselves in leagues of extraordinary people this last year, and it's been exhilarating to be in their company.  Humbling, too.  What this means, though, is that while our best score may be the worst one of the group, it's still our best.  And our best is still good enough.

My pastor, Pastor Dan Betzer, quoted Theodore Roosevelt this week, and I was very encouraged by his words on pressing forward.

It is not the critic who counts:  not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better.  The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.


"Citizenship in a Republic"
Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910*

So please make a resolution to live with me this year, to be who we were made to be, to jump in our life's arena with the heart God put into us and move with Him.  After all, He earns the right to be a critic since He's right there with us all along.



*Retrieved from http://www.theodoreroosevelt.org/life/quotes.htm in January 2012

Pumpkinstein to the rescue!

It is a well known fact that flowers mean a lot to most females.  This is one reason why I was so delighted when I had this cute arrangement waiting for me when I got home the other day!  I like to call it my Pumpkinstein bouquet, because the pumpkin face has a scar on the top left side of it.

This sweet gesture meant so much to me when I was having a rough day.  What kind of things make you feel cared for?