Month: May 2020

Over the past few days, I’ve thought a lot about a powerful song by Hillsong United titled “Hosanna” which includes the lyrics “Break my heart with what breaks yours.”  I’ve heard the song many times but have never really taken them personally to heart as much as I have this week.

This is a tough post to write because as I’ve followed the news coverage and read various blog posts & comments about the senseless death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, I’ve realized that I have been lazy and afraid to really let God break my heart with what breaks His.

Before we go any further, if your mind is already wandering in the direction of blaming the current unrest in America on a particular politician, political party, activist group, or any other group or person, please stop.  Just stop.   It isn’t going to help.  If it would help, I would be all for it but it won’t so, again, please focus only on solutions and healing.

Back to our lesson — I don’t know how to stop the unrest or eliminate injustice of all kinds but I do know that the answer is not to think of this as a debate.  We don’t solve anything by trying to win debate points or “prove” a technical point.  Even if we could prove a point, all we would do is cause the other side to dig in deeper and work harder to prove us wrong.  The harder you push, the harder they will push back.

The actual solution is one that isn’t easy or comfortable for us.  The first step is to put ourselves in God’s shoes and ask what breaks His heart.  We can’t know the heart of God unless we know His word.  We have to be in the Bible, searching for messages He wants us to see.

After we start gaining a better understanding of God’s heart, the next step is to try to allow our heart to be broken by what breaks His.  This is the most difficult part because nobody, including me, likes to have their heart broken.  It’s no fun.  It’s draining and painful.  But the goal is not to make ourselves miserable. The goal is to become more useful to God, which brings us to the final point.

After we understand what breaks God’s heart and allow our hearts to be broken, the ultimate goal is to do something that will make others’ lives better, ease their burden, and/or bring them joy.  This, in turn, will make God smile.

God is the only one who can provide the answers we need to solve the unrest in our country.  By first trying to understand what breaks His heart, we will be better equipped to be used by Him in miraculous ways.

As we answer today’s questions, remember not to blame political parties, individuals, or groups.  Focus only on how we can be used by God to create healing and peace.

Questions:

1. On a scale on 1-10, how well would you say you let God break your heart with what breaks His?  Are you satisfied with your answer?
2. Why is it uncomfortable for us to dive deep to understand what breaks God’s heart?
3. What are some action steps you might take based on today’s lesson to help you allow God to shape your heart?
4. Can you think of some specific things you can do this week to ease someone’s burden or otherwise facilitate healing and peace?

If you are worried right now, you are in good company – the average level of uncertainty and anxiety among my friends and loved ones is as high as I can ever remember.  Maybe for a brief period after 9/11 it was worse but we quickly reached a new normal in that case.  And even the great recession that started in 2007/2008 was probably not as worrisome, on average, because there was a discernable cause that we could point to and a somewhat predictable path forward.

The problem with the Covid-19 crisis is that there are still so many unknowns.

When will we get a vaccine?  What will the future of work look like?  Or how about air travel, sporting events, classrooms, summer camps for kids, and church gatherings?  And for the 30 million Americans who have filed for unemployment over the past few weeks, there are also very real immediate questions about their ability to provide for their families.

This is the part of the lesson where the author or teacher says something along the lines of “don’t be anxious because God is in control”.  But it seems like we need more than that right now.  Is God really in control?  Of course He is – now and always – but it is fair to ask what good could be coming out of all of the seemingly bad things going on around us.  To provide more insight into that question, it will be helpful for us to focus on how God shapes and molds us during difficult times.

During a recent difficult period in my life, I learned to rely on God more than ever and to give up at least some of my addition to being in control.  As part of this effort, I filled up my playlist with songs about giving up control and giving things over to God.  Listening to these songs day after day made a meaningful positive impact on my mindset.  One of my favorite go-tos was (and still is) Hawk Nelson’s song “Diamonds”.  Here is how this song starts:

Here and now I’m in the fire, in above my head
Being held under the pressure, don’t know what will be left
But it’s here in the ashes
I’m finding treasure

He’s making diamonds
Making diamonds
He’s making diamonds out of dust
He is refining
And in his timing
He’s making diamonds out of us

This song reminds us that everyone, even Christians, can get in over our heads sometimes and the pressure can feel unbearable.  But it is pressure that creates things of beauty like diamonds.

Here’s a challenge for this week — try to catch yourself when worry arises and redirect your thoughts to questions like “where is God moving in my life during this time?” or “where is God leading me?” or “how is God using this pressure to mold me in ways that I will be more useful to Him?”.  It is still going to be a difficult time, but maybe these questions will at least help us focus more on God than ourselves.

Questions:

• Have you ever known the average level of anxiety in the world to be any higher than it is right now?
• Do you believe that God uses difficult times to mold us and make more useful to Him?
• [Give the next question a little extra thought because it is central to understanding the heart of God and His plans for us] If good things are going to come out of this difficult time, why would we not be more hopeful and positive? Why are we so anxious?
• If you feel comfortable sharing, on a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your personal need to be in control (10 means you need to control everything and 1 means you are very comfortable trusting God and giving Him control)?
• For a person who struggles to give up control,  how might they benefit if they moved more in the direction of letting God take the wheel?