Wow! What a Heart!

I am the Daddy of a little girl and so I am quite acquainted with hand-drawn hearts.  In my office you can find a small sampling of the many hearts Anna has drawn and colorfully decorated for me.  When Anna gives me one of her artistic renderings of another heart, I say, “Wow!  What a heart!  Thank you, Babe, this is really good. I love it!  You are so creative and so good at drawing.  You have made my day.”  To which she usually replies, “I love you so much, Daddy.”  Of course, I eat up these expressions of her heart and try to cling to them as long as I can.

Right now, as I am looking at one of her most creative and colorful portrayals of the heart, I find myself thinking about God’s word to Samuel in regards to finding the next king of Israel (I Samuel 16).  Samuel had seen all of Jesse’s biggest and brightest boys, but each time God whispered to Samuel, “He is not the one.”  Finally, there was no one left.  “Do you have more boys?’ Samuel asked.  As though he forgot or was somewhat embarrassed to mention him, Jessi, admits it he has one more boy who is just a shepherd named David.  Compared to his brothers, David, just does not have the look of a king.  But God says to Samuel, “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 

Wouldn’t it be great if we could let the Spirit train us to look past the outward straight to the heart?  I believe that if we will be open, God will give us eyes to see the hearts of others in a way that can reveal some beautiful pictures of God’s transforming work.

This week has been a week in which I have had the opportunity to let the Holy Spirit open my eyes to see glimpses of the heart.

For instance, yesterday I sat in McDonald’s with a 17 year old named Steven and saw the heart of new life.  He is fairly new to CFNAZ.  He doesn’t really have any church background.  His parents do not attend.  He comes on his own because he was found by Jesus.  I asked him, how did God become real to you?  He shared how he was watching the testimony of one the lead singers of a favorite band.  The artist shared how Jesus rescued her from suicide and changed her life.  He said when shared that I knew that was what I needed.  He met with me yesterday just to ask questions and to talk about Jesus.  Think about that a 17 year old just want to be like Jesus.  Wow!  What a heart!

During the NMI convention and District Assembly, I saw the heart of service.   I watched so many people of CFNAZ give of themselves to stuff packets, fold papers, prepare meals, set up furniture, clean up messes, greet, usher and so much more.  Each person I saw served with a smile and out of an attitude of love.  So many of you gave and gave and gave during those days and I had so many people say how grateful they are for you.  I am grateful for you as well and I say, “Wow!  What a heart!”

But if I had to give out a “Heart Award of the Week” it would go to Chuck Sprouse.  I don’t know how to communicate to you what this story does inside of me other than every time I recount it I have this wave of emotion wash over me.  It is such a godly example that both encourages me and challenges me.  Chuck, who is in his seventies and has been a part of CFNAZ for 30+ years, motioned for me to come to him.  I walked over and said, “How are you doing, Chuck?”  He flashed that bright and loving smile of his and then he looked me straight in the eye and said in a serious tone, “Chad, I read your write-up about worship.” (I began to brace myself for the blow--you see, we Pastors can get a little gun-shy after a while).  He went on, “I just want you to know that as long as you preach the Bible, I don’t care what we do with the music.  I don’t care if we use an organ or drums.  I don’t care about any of that.  Just keep preaching the Bible and you can do whatever you think is best for the music.”  Wow!  What a heart!

Will you pray with me?  “Father, give me eyes to look past the outward appearance to see the heart you see in others.  Help me not to judge a book by its cover but to take the time to read the story.  Let me not be afraid to see the darks spots on people’s hearts, but help me also to see where you are bringing about your colors.  And help me to show others your heart for them by letting you show them my heart. May we all so let you change our hearts that we become to the world what Anna’s drawings are to me…a precious gift that makes people say, “Wow!  What a heart!”