"Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy..." ~Isaiah 60:5a~
i love this particular scripture... and in the context of isaiah, this verse describes how the people will feel when zion is restored, and the glory of Lord is upon them. now, if you know me fairly well, you know that i am a slightly "emotional" person and this describes perfectly how i feel sometimes. especially now. my heart throbs and swells when i experience God and right now, though sleep deprived, i am exceptionally joyful. (it also reminds me of my kindred spirit, john wesley, when he felt his heart "strangely warmed.")
i am so happy. however, my happiness lies not in what i have gained or in a tangible object but in the overwhelming ways i see God at work in the world, at work in my friends, and at work in my own heart. there have been times in my not so far away past when i would pray for God to remove from me my heart of flesh--but, i am thankful for the heart of flesh which lies in my chest. i would not be me if i had a heart of stone, even though it might lessen my pain at times. i want my heart to break with the things that break the heart of God.
i currently have two of my most dear friends serving as missionaries in africa and another friend/co-worker is at the airport as i type on her way to africa as well. this brings me such great joy, and even more joy as i have begun preparing to leave for africa in june. i would ask anyone who reads this to please keep my friends (holly, jenny, and brittni) as well as myself in your prayers that we might be used for the glory of God, that there might be less of us and more of HIM.
i pray that God might continue to soften my heart and mold me into a vessel of His divine love, so that i might be able to share the joy of a swollen heart!
A joyful heart is the inevitable result of a heart burning with love. ~mother teresa~
