The Bible: Good for Your Heart

A lot has been going on around me lately - sad and confusing and frustrating and heart-wrenching stuff that has me simultaneously feeling numb, feeling like crying, and feeling like screaming. Knowing God is in control makes the hurt meaningful, but it doesn't seem to make it hurt any less. One thing I hope is that it drives me back again and again to His words. Two days ago, I said that my heart hurt; I felt like my heart was breaking. Today it seemed like everything on the open page of my Bible was there just for me, to bind up my hurts and give my heart comfort... some excerpts:

From Psalm 27
Hear my voice when I call, O Lord;
Be merciful to me and answer me.
My heart says of you, "Seek his face!"
Your face, Lord, I will seek.

I am still confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.


From Psalm 28
Praise be to the Lord, for he has heard my cry for mercy.
The Lord is my strength and my shield;
My heart trusts in him, and I am helped.
My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.


From Psalm 30
I will exalt you, O Lord,
For you lifted me out of the depths
and did not let my enemies gloat over me.
O Lord, my God, I called to you for help and you healed me.

You turned my wailing into dancing;
You removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
That my heart may sing to you and not be silent.


From Psalm 31
Praise be to the Lord, for he showed his wonderful love to me
when I was in a besieged city.
In my alarm I said, "I am cut off from your sight!"
Yet you heard my cry for mercy when I called to you for help.
Love the Lord, all his saints!
The Lord preserves the faithful, but the proud he pays back in full.
Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord.

Note to Self

Well, I heard you say you would love for a lifetime
And now you complain that a lifetime just doesn't feel right for you
Another casualty of casual love
Another soul out of place, a heart that gave up

Why do we break the promises we make?
Are we living for ourselves?

Don't give up on love and throw it all away
Don't give up on love and let it fall away
When did it become so easy to run from your pain?
Don't give up on love and throw it all away

Well, I heard you say you can't change a stubborn heart
Yeah, I can relate, cause that's how I feel when I talk with you

Why should it take losing everything
To realize it might be time to change?

Don't give up on love and throw it all away
Don't give up on love and let it fall away
When did it become so easy to run from your pain?
Don't give up on love and throw it all away

Your restless heart won't win
Cause you take, but you don't give
And you'll keep moving on until you learn what love is

-Sanctus Real "Don't Give Up On Love"

Face of Love

So right now I am totally digging on Sanctus Real's album Face of Love. I know, I know, that cd came out in 2006 and I am a bit behind the times. These guys were at Music in the Rockies, and as I listened and rocked out with J-Fratt in the third row, I realized, "Wow, I really love their music!" The lead singer has an amazing voice that just grows on me more and more every time I hear it.

Anyway, if you've turned on a Christian radio station in the past year I'm sure you've heard their beautiful song, "Face of Love." I love the lyrics, and they are just soothing to me... I often have a hard time reconciling my head and my heart when it comes to faith, and I like to be reminded that what I don't know about God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit in my mind can still be believed and trusted with my heart.

I'm not saying this very well... just read this song, okay?

I've seen Your face in stained glass and colored lights
and pictures of You looking to the sky

You've been portrayed a thousand different ways
but my heart can see You better than my eyes
cause it's love that paints the portrait of Your life

the face of love
the face of love
You look more like love every day

I've read Your words in the pages of Your life
and I've imagined what You are like
I may not know the shape of Your face
but I can feel Your heart changing mine
and Your love still proves You're alive

the face of love
the face of love
You look more like love every day

and You are the face that changed the whole world
no one too lost for You to love
no one too low for You to serve

so give us the grace to change the world
no one too lost for me to love
no one too low for me to serve

let us see, let us be Your face
let us be Your face

Sometimes I cry wishing that I could just see Jesus's face and put my hand in his and FEEL it, you know? Like Thomas, a little, I guess - I don't doubt Jesus is real, but man it'd be easier if I could just give him a big hug. So this song soothes that ache a little. I may not know the shape of his face, but I can feel his heart changing mine, and maybe I can even be his face, his love, to someone in need. Could there be a higher honor, a more weighty responsibility, than to be the face of Christ?