A Heart Remodeled

“But friends, that's exactly who we are: children of God. And that's only the beginning. Who knows how we'll end up! What we know is that when Christ is openly revealed, we'll see him—and in seeing him, become like him. All of us who look forward to his Coming stay ready, with the glistening purity of Jesus' life as a model for our own.” -1 John 3:2 MSG

There is a house in Radford that I drive by often. I have always seen it as the perfect house. Not too big, on the friendly side of town and a nice Tuscan-blue color. It has always looked so welcoming and put together. In an odd way, driving by it has always given me a sense of comfort.

Today, however, I drove by the house seeking that few seconds of comfort it usually gives and for the first time ever, I had to stop my car. There was a man with a tool in his hand that was taking the siding of the house off one by one. He was in no rush and seemed to be so careful.

As I watched the man take his time with this house, two things hit me: 1. For the longest time, I have looked at that house and viewed it as perfect. Today, I realized that what I saw on the outside was not all that mattered. In order for that house to be remodeled, there was apparently something not right about it. Maybe those living in it are the only ones who can see the leaks and destruction on the inside. But it’s there. 2. That man—the one taking his time in order to do the job right—is like God in our lives. Sometimes, from the outside, we look perfectly fine. But God knows the leaks and destruction within us. And instead of leaving us (moving to a new “house”) He takes His time to mold us. Piece by piece, He allows His healing hands to form us into what we have been called to be. How if we just let Him, He takes our lives and transforms them.

But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’²¹ Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use? –Romans 9:20-21 MSG

May God remodel our hearts; that we may be able to move more closely with His spirit and in His will.

In His Love, Brittany Jade.

The Volume of Silence

Words are my comfort. They soothe me. I’m the type who can feel words wrap around me. Their warmth, like a gentle embrace, allows me to forget the world around me. I cling to their every meaning. This can be both healthy and dangerous. Words I seek to hear save me. Those that I would prefer not to hear, on the other hand, break me down. Like antagonists, they plot to destroy. And they do. The very thing I cling to, can instantly ruin me.

I was recently trying to explain to someone very special to me that words can truly change someone. They can dry tears and right wrongs in the matter of seconds. They can steal smiles and wreck relationships with very little effort. Words are powerful. They will make or break you. Psalm 18:21 says “death and life are in the power of the tongue.” But what can be just as prevailing? Silence.

I have never been one to seek silence. And for the longest time I allowed myself to build up this half-truth that things can only be done by words; Arguments will only resolve with conversation, lyrics are what make every song effective, etc. And I used The Word to back up my little conclusion. I would cling to things like Psalm 86:7 (In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee: for You will answer me.) and make my own understanding. An understanding that would, in return, give me a skewed interpretation of the Word of God. “Call unto the Lord, for that is the only way He will answer” I continued to tell myself. I replayed that thought in my head a thousand times and forced myself to keep calling out to Him—screaming even. But what I never took into consideration is that no matter how many times you ask a question, if you do not pause and listen, you will never hear an answer.

God has never once stopped talking to me. He has always been whispering love and truths into my ear. When I call upon Him, He answers. The question, however, that I had to ask myself is “Why am I not hearing Him?” And finally, after spending so much of my quiet times in tears wondering why I hadn’t heard Him, I waited. I took breath after breath without speaking one word. Without thinking. And then there He was. No closer than He had been before. Because He had always been so close to me. But for the first time in a long while, I could hear Him. More than a faint whisper or a soft answer from within. I could HEAR Him. And with the words He was speaking, I could feel His heartbeat. In mine.

In the silence is where I found Him. When I stopped relying on words and sought His presence instead, He redefined intimacy for me. So in a world that screams for answers and is not content until someone screams them back, try to remember that the volume of silence can be louder than any spoken word. And when you finally allow yourself to give in and be still, that understand is the one that surpasses all.

In His Love,

Brittany Jade.