A Heart Measured
Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, "Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead - by him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. Acts 4:8-13
Insight
When I read the scripture above, one thing sticks out: Peter stood face to face with the Sanhedrin Council, influential religious leaders of their day, and being filled with the Holy Spirit, Peter spoke with boldness and truth. That could be what caused the men of this council to realize that Peter and John had been with Jesus. It wasn't just because they talked about Jesus. It was how they spoke of Jesus while filled with the Holy Spirit. That type of boldness convinced these powerful men of who they were. When we read further, Peter and John go back to their friends and tell them what happened. Upon hearing this, their friends lift up praises and pray for their own boldness given by the Holy Spirit (Acts 4:23-31).
As followers of Christ, people we encounter should recognize there is something different about us. That should be at the forefront of our minds in every facet of life. Christ calls us to interact with the world in distinct ways; through compassion, care, boldness and truth.
Mike spoke about this on Sunday directly, saying that our reach measures our heart. He then posed two questions: "what are you willing to look out on and allow compassion to well up within you?" and "what are you willing to do about it?"
It's easy to see and hear everything happening in the world, close to home and oceans away, and allow our hearts to become hardened by it all. For our hearts to reach a state of hardness takes no real effort. It's simply what happens over time as we look at the world's ugliness. It takes more effort not to allow our hearts to be hardened by all the horror.
Recently, my husband and I were talking about someone with cancer, and my immediate response was, "see, this is what makes me angry, people having to suffer through an illness like cancer. And not just people, but people who have devoted their lives to sharing the gospel and building the Kingdom. It makes no sense at all, I hate it, and it's just not fair." Just as quickly as the words left my mouth, my heart felt a tinge of remorse for being so enraged by cancer. Cancer is ugly - that's a fact. I watched it take one of the most faithful and Kingdom-minded women I know. Upon reflecting on my grandmother at that moment, I felt God through the Holy Spirit tell me that it breaks His heart, too. Of course, I knew that already, but it was the gentle reminder I needed at that moment. That was enough for the tension in my shoulders to dissipate a little, my breath to become more even, and my heart, in its hardness, to be chipped away at just a little.
See, it's not that we shouldn't feel sad over everything that exists broken in this world. It's that sometimes we allow the emotion of anger to come through more substantial than the emotion of remorse or sadness. Over the past two years, I've been on a journey where I'm asking God to break my heart for what breaks His. Let me say I haven't allowed space for it every time. I haven't been as vulnerable with God as I would like. My heart tends to lean toward being hardened through anger rather than broken. I find myself speaking about things in hardness rather than boldness.
As Followers of Jesus, we should be aware that God is doing a work in all of us. Personally, He is teaching me to be disciplined. He is teaching me to be self-aware. He is teaching me that vulnerability with Him is the safest place I could ever be. And more frequently, I ask for the boldness I know dwells within me - within each of us who follow Christ. So let's all invite the Holy Spirit to the forefront of our being so that we can be governed by Christ and His love rather than the world and our emotions.
Reflection
Where do you find that your heart hardens with the world, and what would it look like for you to make the change and be or do something different?
Prayer
Father, thank you for your unyielding grace. Thank you for your Holy Spirit. May we continue to aspire to be different. May we put forth the effort that we are responsible for in that process as we train ourselves to listen to your Holy Spirit for direction, and we lean on You, Lord, for the strength we require. It's in Jesus' name we pray, Amen.
Port City writer Sarah Banks wrote today's devotional.