BROKEN TO COME IN!

As I was reading the Psalms, a word caught my eye that caused me to pause: "But you, O Sovereign Lord, deal well with me for your name's sake; out of the goodness of your love, deliver me. For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me." (Ps. 109:21-22) And then I thought, what could wound my heart today, and I began to realize that I needed to know that no matter what the world would tell me of that pain, God would use it to His glory.
I recall a story that is told of a rabbi who read Deuteronomy 6:6 - "And these words, which I command you this day, shall be upon your heart."
"Why is it said that way?" a pupil asked. "Why are we not told to place them IN our heart?"
The rabbi answered that it is not within man's power to place the divine teachings directly in his heart. "All that we can do is place them on the surface of the heart so that when the heart breaks they will drop in."
I pray that sometime we find the strength of God the most powerfully when our heart is broken. Then we should turn to the true source of hope for our lives.

Mid-week Prayer

Loving God, let us place Your Word carefully in our lives so when trouble comes and we despair and brokenness comes, then You will bring forth strength that can only be found in Your love. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.

This has been Rev. Jim Massey. This coming Sunday morning I will be in the pulpit at Wesley UMC here in Springfield. Pray that God will use this servant and His Word to heal the hearts that might feel wounded as they come into God's presence. I look forward to our Mid-week Epistle this coming week.