The Heart: Part 3

When God begins to thwart our sandcastle building we should ask Him why. Let us not assume that the people around us are responsible for the thwarting. When we blame people for the failure of our sandcastle building we are in the zone of idolatry. When people are a means to our success in sandcastle building and they don't co-operate with our vision (assuming we had one) and we resent them for it; we are in the zone of idolatry. This is, in truth, why God thwarts us; He is after the heart of the matter. He is after our worship. Worshiping Him in Spirit and Truth leads to life; idolatry leads to death. He is the hero; we, the object of His love, are in danger. So he begins to dismantle our idols to show us that they are not worthy, that they are deaf, dumb, blind and have no breath in them (and those who make and worship them become like them, Psalm 135) . Conversely, when He is the builder of our castle, it is on a rock and there is no lack of anything, be it people, resources, or good spiritual fruit. That sounds great doesn't it? It is, once you're there, but to get there you have to lay every single dream and ambition you have on the altar and be truly willing for God to burn it up beyond recognition if He so chooses. I think this is what it means to lay down your life for a friend. No greater love. He did it for us, we can do it for Him. Trust me, however, when I say that after the grieving (over your pile of ashes) the awesome power of His grace kicks into overdrive and you experience His love on a whole new level. He is after our hearts. That is the only thing He wants from us. Period. Out of that kind of relationship He can move mountains and shake nations, but those things pale and are not even on the grid of competing with Him having our heart. This is beyond friendship. This is passionate love. Unless we have decided to harden our hearts and refuse Him, He will mow down our idols. He is a jealous, yet gracious lover. He will always take us back and replace the ring on our finger.