When do we need our hearts enlarged? When do we need quickening?
Unexpected guests. Children awake in the night. Sickness. Sorrow. Breaks and spills. Mud tracked in. Traffic. Lines. Delays. Weeds. Neighbors. Dogs on the loose. Flat tires. Power outages. Canceled flights. Cramped quarters. Forgotten birthdays. Interruptions. Bills. Thoughtlessness. Careless comments. Stains. Overflowing washers. Cuts and scrapes. Fussing babies. Headache. Broken coffee pot.
But we also need quickening and large hearts during those times when we might get complacent. Blue skies. Money in the bank. Feeling fine. Looking good. These can be times of grave danger to our souls. These fair weather days need to be hedged about with prayer and gratitude, just like those days filled with provocation and care. In fact, even more so.
We are creatures with short memories. God can use those tiresome or sickly days to remind us of our many blessings. How often to we thank God that we feel well, unless it is after a day of the flu? Big hearts are constantly counting blessings, on the good days and the bad ones.
I have a real fondness for Psalm 119. Recently when reading it over looking for references to our hearts, I was struck by the wording in verse 32, “thou shalt enlarge my heart.” This is something worth praying for: “Lord, enlarge our hearts. Make us into big-hearted people.”
When left to ourselves, we become fussers and complainers, petty and critical. But when God enlarges our hearts, we “will run the way of thy commandments” (from earlier in vs. 32). This God-given big-heartedness enables us to do our duties (His commandments). And apparently, we won’t merely walk in them, but we’ll run with a glad obedience, with rejoicing hearts. “Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever: for they are the rejoicings of my heart” (111) . It seems obvious where we got the notion that big-hearted people are generous, hospitable, cheerful, and love to give. This is how God is. Continue reading ‘Enlarge our Hearts’
I don’t think I have made pretzels since my own childhood, and I never really felt like trying again. However, Daphne is a dedicated pretzel fan, and the jar of pretzels at our house was empty. Lina and Daphne were ready to run out to Winco to get more, and I told them we didn’t have the car today. They were brainstorming for a while -”I’ll just watch out the window and see if there is a car we could borrow,” or “We could call Nana and she could take us.”
Since I didn’t really want to put out the “HELP! HELP! We are out of pretzels” alarm, I suggested we make some. Continue reading ‘Kids in the Kitchen’
To quicken is to rouse someone from lethargy. You may need to quicken your teenage son because he is still sound asleep well past the alarm. And why else would we head for the coffee pot, except that we need to be quickened. It’s an old word, and it means to animate, enliven, arouse, stimulate, revive.
The psalmist in psalm 119 prays three times in succession that God would quicken him. “Quicken me according to thy word” (vs. 154); “Quicken me according to thy judgment” (vs. 156); “Quicken me, O Lord, according to thy loving kindness” (vs. 159).
It seems to me, not being a Hebrew scholar and all, that he is speaking of spiritual lethargy here. He is asking God to wake him up and revive him so that he is spiritually enlivened. Often we are in need of a personal revival, and the source of such reviving is God Himself. We can’t pour ourselves a cup. But we can and should ask God to quicken us.
The psalmist asks God to do this according to three things: His word, His judgment, and His loving kindness. Don’t we find refreshment in God’s Word? Don’t we find encouragement and stimulation in contemplating His good judgments, His sweet doctrine, and all by His good and loving grace?
So I think we should make this request for quickening part of our regular prayers: Quicken me, O God, according to your standards of righteousness and holiness and goodness, that I may serve you with fresh resources and new resolve.
Women want to be led. Of course, we don’t always act like it. In fact, sometimes we resist it like crazy. But despite all this, God has created woman to be led by her husband, and He has created in the woman the desire for strong male leadership.
When a woman is married to a capable man with a keen sense of purpose and a heart obedient to God, she has immense possibilities for security and freedom in her submission to him. Under such loving influence, a Christian woman can thrive both spiritually and emotionally. As he serves God in his calling, she can provide incredible help and support to him. This is the ideal situation.
But what about the women who are married to men who are not interested in leading, who have neither drive nor direction? What can a woman in a marriage like that do?
I believe a woman who is stranded in such a marriage should turn to her duties. Just because he is failing at his duty to lead, does not mean she can make things better by failing at her own God-assigned duty to respect her husband. Continue reading ‘Stick to Your Duties’
The tie-breaker goes to Cindy with her guess of 3,200. Thanks for playing everyone!
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