Our God knows our hearts…
“…for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”—1 Samuel 16:7
And our God cares enough about our hearts, about our “foundations“… the “foundational condition” of our hearts…
…that He will sometimes allow us to go through some uncomfortable situations,
challenging times,
pain,
loss,
tears,
feelings of unknown,
experiencing and enduring through waves of emotions,
times of waiting,
trials…
Because He’s a God who LOVES US ENOUGH…to get to the “heart of the matter”…
“Would not God find this out?
For He knows the secrets of the heart.“—Psalm 44:21
“Yet, O Lord of hosts, You who test the righteous,
Who see the mind and the heart;
Let me see Your vengeance on them;
For to You I have set forth my cause.”—Jeremiah 20:12
He knows what really matters.
And He knows the importance of a “firm foundation.”
A “foundation” that is made right,
a “foundation” that will stand,
a “foundation” that will be strong!
And His process of helping us to deal with our “foundational issues” isn’t pretty—it’s messy.
It’s raw.
It’s real.
…it’s true.
But going through His “renovation process”… is worth it.
You’re worth it. Your life is worth it. Your heart is worth it.
Living in freedom is worth it, living in peace is worth it.
Living your life in the way God designed you to live it… is worth it.
And… Jesus… is worth it.
So why does God allow a “foundation” to shake? To begin to “fail” on us?
Because He knows that if our “foundation” is not built as it should be, then everything else, from the inside to the outside, is not going to be as it should be. It’s not going to stand…
He knows that if work isn’t done to the “foundation”… then the whole structure could very well crumble and fall to destruction.
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”—Matthew 7:24-27
So He gives us opportunity, because of His mercy and His love…
to be made right.
To be repaired.
To have our hearts healed.
To have our land healed…
And He does it because of who He is,
and because of what He stands for,
and because of His great love for His people, and for all of creation.
So let’s allow Him to do what He needs to do in our hearts—in our “foundations”…
And in our land, foundationally….
Let’s trust Him with His “renovation process.”
Because if we cling to Him, if we welcome Him in…
He’s going to do a work to restore us.
And we have nothing to fear…
“Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.“—Luke 6:47-48
“The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.“—Psalm 18:2
“For their rock is not as our Rock; our enemies are by themselves.”—Deuteronomy 32:31
As He does His work, and as we do our part in welcoming Him into our hearts…we’ll find ourselves living on a “firm foundation” in Him.
And we’ll be so glad that He did what He did…
And we’ll be so amazed at the way He did what He did…
And we’ll be so thankful that He didn’t leave us the way we were…
We’ll be so THANKFUL that He didn’t leave us unstable— that He didn’t leave us to completely crumble and fall…
Thank You, Father. ?
Help us to be patient in this time of “foundational renovations”…. for You do a good work in us. And You have it all perfectly planned out. You make all things beautiful in time. ??????☀️
-Heather ?