The Tattered Heart

I saw something the other morning that outraged many, and was disturbing to say the least.  For the lack of anything better to do, because he was bored, a young man decided that he would upload a video of himself attempting to destroy a WWII-era Purple Heart medal that he had purchased at an antiques store.

Over the course of five minutes the young man, careful to hide his face, used a knife, a hammer and ultimately a blow torch on the medal.  You can see him toiling with the efforts and wiping his brow, every so often he would stop his assault on the heart and pick it up and show it to the camera.  The final shot showed the now, tattered heart, in his hand. Then he flashes a thumbs-up and carelessly tosses the heart into the corner on the floor.

The comments below the video ranged from mild to explosive, most railing against what this young man did, and as I read through many of them, I agreed that this young man is like many in this country that do not truly understand the cost of the freedom that they enjoy. 

My husband is a Veteran; he served his country for 8 and ½ years before he was medically discharged with honors.  He served State-side during the Persian Gulf War, the only reason he was State-side, was because his duties required him to be here and not in battle.  He actually volunteered to go, but was denied.

He and many other honorably discharged Vets have faced an uphill battle with the VA to secure everything from healthcare to housing; vocational re-training to education.  Sure, there are programs out there to help, but when dealing with the VA, you are assured of one thing, to hurry up and wait!

I could go on and on about what my husband has endured, but it is one story in thousands.  What I want to return to is the image of that tattered heart.  While watching the video and reading the comments, I could not help but notice that no matter how the teen tried to destroy the heart, it kept its shape. 

It brought to mind the verses in 2 Corinthians 4:

We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed.  Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.

It was ironic really, that no matter how the teen tried, he ultimately could not accomplish his goal of completely destroying that heart.

To me it symbolized this nation and all of the Veterans out there who have been ravaged by war, both here and abroad.  The disdain many soldiers are subject to in our country, in previous generations and even now is heart-rending and yet, their hearts still bleed for the Red, White and Blue.  Their hearts still bleed for me and you.

Recently, I asked my husband, after he faced yet another disappointment regarding the VA, if he felt it was worth it?  I asked him, if he knew then, what he knows now, would he have still served?  His blue eyes took on a steely-look and he said, “In a heartbeat.”

Looking at the "Up" side of "Down"

While going through a very rough patch in my life, I prayed and asked the Lord, "Why do we have to go down?"  Immediately in my mind's eye, the image of a diver on a diving board flashed.  I could see their feet on the end of the board and the board bending "down" and then suddenly springing back up as the diver was propelled high into the air to perform his flips. 

No sooner did that image flash by and another took its place, it was a gymnast running down and bounding onto a trampoline before leaping over the pommel horse.  I noticed their feet, in the "down" motion just before they leaped high in the air over the obstacle in their path.

The Spirit of God whispered to my heart, “to achieve what they need to do, they have to go down before they spring up.  They needed that brief downward motion to enable them to fly higher than if they would have attempted the maneuver from a flat, even surface.”  My heart soared as my spirit grasped what the Holy Spirit was sharing with me.

Recently,  I was contemplating this, and I couldn't help but think about Peter when he had gotten out of the boat...He was walking on water, something that to my knowledge no one else besides the LORD had ever done before or since.

I’m sure many of us have heard it taught that Peter went down because he took his eyes of Jesus.  This is a powerful lesson to us all; but if we look further, although Peter sunk, Jesus did not leave him there, He pulled him up!  And, not only did he pull Peter up; He walked with Him all the way back to the boat.

Matt 14:28-33 NLT
Then Peter called to him, “Lord, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water.”
“Yes, come,” Jesus said.
So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus.   But when he saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. “Save me, Lord!” he shouted.
Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. “You have so little faith,” Jesus said. “Why did you doubt me?”
When they climbed back into the boat, the wind stopped. Then the disciples worshiped him. “You really are the Son of God!” they exclaimed.

I can imagine after this walk, Peter’s faith grew as he realized that Jesus is with us in the storm and He remains with us until we are safe and the storm stops.  What the enemy means to use to destroy us; Jesus walks on it with sweet Victory not stopping Him from accomplishing what He said He will do!

We will all encounter times where it seems we are sinking, but we can take heart that our Savior doesn’t just get into the water, He rises above it and pulls us up to walk by His side.

I can honestly say, on this side of the storm, that my Faith in Christ is stronger now than before the storm began.  I have seen the faithfulness of God to walk with me during the midst of the storm and His faithfulness to lead me through it until I am safe.
Artist rendering By Yongsung Kim

There's A Hole in Your Bucket...Fix it!

Last week I read a devotional from Kim Potter at  A New Thing Ministries, about the "tipping point."  (Check out the link and sign up for her daily devotional, you will be blessed!)

Kim spoke of how she was given a fountain that had a little cup that would fill up with water and when it was full, it would tip over and pour out in abundance.  As I was reading this the Holy Spirit spoke to me about the saturation point before a flood.

We have had an abundance of rain lately and many areas are under a Flood Warning.  He spoke to me that the flood comes when the ground becomes so saturated that it can no longer absorb any more water. 

I meditated on the saturation point and then today, I was praying about the tipping point and asking the Lord as to when that would be, because I know my husband and I had been faithfully tithing and sowing and I was confused as to why we hadn't experience our "tipping point."

I no sooner asked the question, and I heard a song from my childhood, "there's a hole in the bucket, Dear Liza, Dear Liza, there's a hole in the bucket, Dear Liza, a hole."  To which Liza sings back, "well, fix it Dear Henry, Dear Henry, Dear Henry, well fix it Dear Henry, Dear Henry, fix it!"  They continue to sing back and forth and end up realizing that in the end, they need a bucket without a hole.

A big ole light bulb turned on in my Spirit and I remembered that the Word addresses this issue in Haggai 1:6 NLT:

You have planted much but harvest little. You eat but are not satisfied. You drink but are still thirsty. You put on clothes but cannot keep warm. Your wages disappear as though you were putting them in pockets filled with holes!

The Lord was angered that the children of Israel had seen to their homes as the Lord's Temple lie in ruins.  They immediately repented and began the task of rebuilding the Temple.
I just love it when the Lord uses practical experiences to get His point across.  It made me realize that if I wasn't experiencing the tipping point, then the problem wasn't on God's end, it was on mine.  There was a hole in my bucket and I needed to fix it!  When we spend time with the Lord, He is faithful to show us exactly how we are poking holes in our buckets.
It could be in our deeds,  our motives or even in our words.  Malachi 3:8-10 tells us how that when we don't give our tithes, we are stealing from God.  But when we are faithful to bring our tithes and offerings; God says that,

“I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test! NLT

Malachi 3: 16-18 NLT also reminds us to not speak against the Lord, that He has recorded all who honor Him and that He will remember them;

“On the day when I act in judgment, they will be my own special treasure. I will spare them as a father spares an obedient child. Then you will again see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.”

In every instance, all that was needed was to repent and obey.  What a blessing it is to know that it's not hard to fix the hole, you just have to FIX IT!