Last Sunday at church I talked about salvation, grace and nurture. As I was driving to a lunch meeting I thought about what else could I have shared with the congregation to drive the import of nurture? It’s not uncommon for me to feel like I’ve missed something. So here is the something that maybe I missed. I thought about my own heart and how it had not been nurtured throughout my childhood and how God shaped my heart through His nurture of me.
The healing of my heart came as I learned how to allow the wonder of God’s nurture of me to shape and heal my heart. As I learned how to delight in His beauty and love through the Scriptures and the quieting of my soul to hear His still small voice my fears began to melt away. This came as I dug deeper into God’s greatness and goodness. This filled my heart with wonder and changed many of my old selfish desires. Responding to God’s loving initiative towards me I realized that for many years I was seeking this nurture in people through broken and manipulative ways. Realizing how much God the Father loves me began to heal me of my “bentness” towards others to give me what they did not have. All of this working things out with God energized me to honor him with my life and to be more courageous to share my faith with others. If you are feeling anxious, disorganized and avoiding community this Christmas season, might I remind you that God is a safe haven, a source of security for even the weariest traveler.
Please consider reading Psalm 139:15-18 this week.