The beach was full of hundreds of beautiful rocks. There were smooth ones, colorful ones, big ones and little ones. I was excited to find one of these beautiful rocks in the shape of a heart to remember my short time in Greece by!
But when I finally found one I was disappointment because it wasn’t as beautiful as all the rest. It didn’t have vibrant colors and it wasn’t smooth like I’d hoped. It was quite the opposite; rough and gray, more like a boring stone. However, I decided to hang onto it and continue to search the beach for a better one as I walked.
When I found nothing; I noticed I was feeling more disappointed and now a little frustrated too. I even began to complain to God. (Oh, the things I complain about sometimes!) He responded to my pitiful complaints with a question, asking “What is the most important thing was about the rock?”
“Well, that would be the shape. That it’s in the shape of a heart.”
“Exactly,” was his simple reply.
That’s all it took for me to understand the point he wanted to make. It was easy for me to focus on the aesthetics of the rock, but it was the shape of the rock that really mattered. In the same way it is the shape my heart that matters. It’s the shape of the heart of others that matters.
What things look or feel like can be deceptive. If the shape of our hearts are true and steady God is pleased. It doesn’t matter what the heart “looks” like. God can work with a heart that is rough and gray or smooth and colorful as long as it is shaped with obedience and humility. But he can’t work with those shaped with disobedience and pride.
I was reminded of the words that Jesus had for the Pharisees in Matthew 23:27, “whitewashed tombs.” Also the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector in Luke 18. The Pharisees cared only about appearances; they looked good, but there hearts where not right with God and shaped with much disobedience and pride.
Financial Update
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