Issues of My Heart

There's something amazing that happens to you when you step out and obey God's call to go - wherever He leads you. God opens your heart and eyes to not just the area to which He's led you, but to the whole world, and your heart and mind play this little game. "Let's see, I wonder where God will lead us next ... is it here or is it there." And you get a big lump in your throat and tears in your eyes when you realize that God is doing something incredibly wonderful in your heart.

This is where I find myself.

Today we had the opportunity to attend the Jakarta International Christian Fellowship in downtown Jakarta with Gary and Paula Miller. Definitely a place we will return to - more than likely on a regular basis. We so enjoyed the warmth and fellowship, but the worship and message from 2 Samuel 9:1-13 moved my soul to tears. It struck a chord about what's been going on in my heart.

It reads in verse 1: "Then David said, 'Is there yet anyone left of the house of Saul that I may show him "kindness" for Jonathan's sake?' " You may remember that before David became king, he and Jonathan shared a very special friendship, much like brothers. Jonathan had a son, Mephibosheth, that had become crippled in both feet at the age of 4
when he was accidentally dropped, and he was the only one left in the house of Saul.

When you go on to read the rest of the chapter, it was David's desire to restore to Mephibosheth all the land of his grandfather Saul, and vowed that Mephibosheth would eat at his table regularly. Mephibosheth responded in verse 8, "What is your servant, that you should regard a dead dog like me?"

The word "kindness" in verse 1 is the same word as grace and David was dripping with grace at this time of his life and extended it to Mephibosheth without any questions or qualifications. David never asked questions, because "grace" never asks questions. Look at Mephibosheth's response. He considered himself to be like a dead dog. Something hidden away, worthless, someone nobody pays any attention to; isolated, a nobody that no one wants to even know.

When Mephibosheth prostrated himself and fell on his face before King David, David told him "not to fear for I will surely show kindness to you for the sake of your father Jonathan ..." His message was, "Do not be afraid."

When grace is in our hearts, our hope is to release others from fear, not to create them. Grace never brings people under its control; it brings freedom and acceptance. Grace takes us just as we are.

Grace looks for and is on the side of "dead dogs."

We are bought by God's grace and are invited to eat at the King's table too, a cripple in one way or another - just like Mephibosheth.

The stark truth is that we can never get to an attitude of grace without receiving God's grace!

God has called and positioned us to dispense grace to those who are the nobody's of society; the ones others have forgotten about; those that are isolated and feel worthless. May I never forget that that is what God has led us to. It's not about us -- it's all about Him.