Chapter Four: Losing Heart

Rinehart talks about how everything that makes life worth living - laughter, love, courage, sacrifice - is born in the inner depth of our heart. It is from where our passion comes. 


When we lose heart, we lose our passion.


We become strangers even to ourselves.

She quotes Frederick Buechner -


"....we run the risk of losing track of who we truly and fully are and little by little instead come to accept instead the highly edited version which we put forth in hope that the world will find it more acceptable than the real thing."

Our fear of rejection or fear of being hurt again or whatever fear lurks deep inside, becomes the driving force behind our loss of passion and causes us to hide our true selves.  Thinking we are "protecting" ourselves, we deny ourselves hope and pretend we have no expectations.  That way, we are not disappointed. 

A sad existence.  And definitely God's best for our life!

I love the analogy she uses on page 51-52 from Anne Lamott.  She compares having your tonsils out (a wound to the body) to pain and disappointments (wounds to the spirit).  In order for healing to take place, one must use the muscles around the wound in order to begin to get relief and start the healing process. 

Is pain real?  Yes.

Will we encounter disappointments?  Yes.

BUT!.... we continue living, hoping, expecting, knowing that God has good plans for us!

As David said in Psalms....

[What, what would have become of me] had I not believed that I would see the Lord's goodness in the land of the living!  (Ps. 27:13 Amplified)


Purpose to regain your passion!  Allow God to awaken those places in the secret chambers of your heart that have been hidden.  Allow Him to restore your hope. 

Rinehart states that "if we do not let ourselves hope in God, we will turn in another direction....depending on ourselves or putting our hope in other people."

"Hope that is pinned to God, rather than to people, has a buoyancy to it because it is grounded not in our own illusion of how our story should read, but in the character of God."

And two final quotes from this chapter that I couldn't leave out.....

"Only when the heart can hear, can we receive the experience of being loved, the joy of belonging to the Father,...and pain is often the megaphone that awakens."

"In the inner chambers of your heart, God steps past all your talent and hard work - all that you think He values.  He goes straight for the messy, broken places in you because it's there that you can truly discover Him."

I am praying for you today....that you (and I) will allow God into the messy, broken places.......that you allow yourself to hope again, to embrace life, and to LIVE.......that you will know, today, the joy of belonging to the Father, and in those broken places, you truly discover Him......

XO

Chapter Two: Desire

Lord, all my desire is before Thee; and my sighing is not hid from Thee. Psalm 38:9


In this chapter, Rinehart describes how we are "painfully incomplete."  Our heart is a bundle of "longings, and desires.....holes in our soul....The holes are the places God has reserved in us for Himself.  The longings identify our real hunger.  A hunger that drives us to Him to be satisfied."


When the word desire is mentioned, often one thinks of the wrong kind of desire.  Desire can lead us to worldly things, but it can also lead us to God.  So not all desire is bad.  We were created as passionate beings by a passionate God.  "The majestic power of God that made the heavens and formed the earth, also reaches into the core of our being and shapes our very spirit."


As Zechariah said, "Thus declares the Lord who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him."


That really spoke to me.  The same God who is also the Creator of the universe, maker all things, giver of life......formed my very spirit!  Often I feel guilty for spending time creating things, crafting, sewing. painting, scrapbooking etc, and feel like I should be doing something more "spiritual."  But God put those inside of me.  He made me in His image, a creative being.  The only time my desire for these things would be wrong is when I place them above Him.  In that case, they would have become an idol.


Rinehart also explains how some people give up, and are even encouraged to give up, their desires, and part of their "soul goes to sleep."  Then her next few statements wowed me! "When we are wholly His we will be more ourselves than ever." (She actually quoted that one from C.S. Lewis).  "It is the definition of joy to be able to offer back to God the essence of what He's placed in you, be that creativity or a love of ideas or a compassionate heart or the gift of hospitality."


There is also desire that leads us away from God and causes pain.  One example she uses is the desire to run off with the postman.  I think you can see the difference.  Desires that lead us to God, and those that take us away.  She goes on to tell us how we deal with these desires......


I could go on and on again with this chapter, but I'll keep it short and allow you to read the rest (this is only from the first couple of pages! haha). It is deep and has a lot of information.....I think I'm going to go read it again...... :) 

What stood out to you or spoke to you in this chapter?



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Have a FANTASTIC day!!!

XO

Shelly