Having a Heart in a Sometimes Heartless World
Scripture focus: But the fruit of the Spirit is…faithfulness…Galatians 5:22
Faith – pistis – a person who is faithful, reliable, loyal, and steadfast; a person who is devoted, trustworthy, dependable, dedicated, constant, and unwavering. (Paraphrasing Renner in his July 26th devotional)
God provides us the gift of faith; but we are the ones who have to grab hold of it and implement. So my friend and I didn’t spend more than a few minutes identifying the problem. We’re solution-focused Princess Warriors. Marinating in our misery and focusing on our resentments (no matter how justified) is not the kind of decision a steadfast, devoted, reliable, loyal, dependable, dedicated, constant, and unwavering (though often desperate) devoted follower of Christ makes. Kids of The King trash talk our suffering, reminding ourselves that…
- We can be faithful, because it’s a gift from God – and we can freely pass it on. Re-gifting is not that difficult.
- We can be reliable, because God has made us both willing and able to do so.
- We can be loyal. Our loyalty doesn’t require reciprocation. Our loyalty isn’t given to just any old human, but our loyalty to God informs how we treat others. So even though others might be big meanies, we choose to respond graciously. We don’t allow others to abuse us. But we also don’t give ourselves permission to misbehave when others treat us unkindly.
- We can be steadfast. My friend and I are getting old. Like a blind squirrel finds a nut, this year we stumbled upon the ability to be steadfast even in the face of heartache. This surprising response to suffering has emboldened us to keep up the pace. Last year was tough, but we held steady. “We can do this,” we say to each other. And this year, we say it with a tiny bit more God-confidence than we had previously.
- We can be devoted to others. We don’t focus on the folks who disappoint; instead, we remind ourselves of those that we love AND who love us back. We are made aware of how long and rich that list is – once we turn our attention away from our frustrating relationships and onto our fulfilling ones.
- We can be trustworthy, dependable and dedicated. This part may require further conversations. How will we choose who and what to dedicate ourselves to? But we’ll figure it out. God is teaching us the “unforced rhythms of grace.”
- We can be constant and unwavering. And although this looks like a big mountain with a steep incline, we have good friends and a great community to support our efforts.
Our morning coffee break began with resentment and ended in rejoicing. Justifiable resentments, no matter how justifiable, aren’t worth focusing on when we considered all the other options at our disposal. May your resentments melt like butter on hot toast as you recall who God is and what he wants you to be about!
Recommended reading: Isaiah 6 and 7 in the morning; Psalm 40 and Proverbs 23 in the evening
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