The Heart of God

The Heart of God

4/29/07

Think about how you view God. Is it anything like us? Did you picture God white-water rafting? Or setting out with a buddy into the wilderness to test His strength against the elements? Did you picture God as a shy lover extremely careful about disclosing the depths of His heart? Or how about a young girl wanting to be delighted in by those around her? Yes, these comparisons might seem a little strange to you at first, but wait a second.
Remember the verse in Genesis 1:26,27; “Then God said, ‘Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness’…..So God created humankind in His image, in the image of God he created them, make and female he created them.” Now, we know that we are created in Gods likeness, but wait, God doesn’t have a gender! Could it be that we were created with a gender difference of the heart? Crazy thought isn’t it?

Scientifically every heart is the same, but God created a distinct difference between the heart of a woman and the heart of a man, though both reveal the same heart of our God. If our hearts are fashioned after His, don’t you think he understands and experiences the same longings of your heart?
Let’s take the first comparison of God, white-water rafting. Most girls would draw back at the thought of such danger, but the guys are thinking, “Yah! Let’s do it! Maybe we can flip the boat!” : ) As crazy as I think that is, God would be right there with you having a ball. This desire for adventure and risk is in the heart of every man, if it hasn’t been buried. And where do you think you get it from? God of course. Why to you think God created us with the freedom of choice? Were things going to be predictable and under control with no risks that way? No! Was, there a risk of danger? Yes. But with this danger comes the need for strength to meet the problem.

This brings us to the second comparison, the test of strength in the wilderness. Ok, so maybe all of you would not choose the wilderness as the way to test your strength, but still the need is there. Men like to come through for the girl, to show their strength and be appreciated for it. How many countless stories fill the Old Testament of God waiting till the last moment, when everything seems hopeless, to step in and save his people from danger. There are quite a few aren’t there. God wants to give His strength to us when we are in trouble, but He also wants us to be grateful for it and praise Him because of it.
Mmmmm….. affirmation and acceptance. Do you see this in the shy lover? Did you know that God longs to “romance” you, and to be “romanced” by you. He sends you flowers every day! He speaks through nature in three words, I LOVE YOU. He blesses you in little ways just to see you smile with delight and happiness. God longs to be pursued by you. He says, “You will seek me and find me,...when you seek with all your heart.” Do you tell someone you just met yesterday your life story? No, of course not! You give the relationship time. You wait and see if they really do care, if they really want to know the innermost you. This is a characteristic that is definitely a big part of the female heart. We do not just open up to anyone at the slightest attempt. And God is like this too. Is it easy to get to know God? No. People spend a life time getting to know Him, even eternity is not enough time. God never forces Himself on you and will only reveal slowly pieces of His heart, and only with much searching and pursuing on your part.

On to the last comparison. God wants to be delighted in? Psalms 37:4 “Delight yourself in the Lord…” Psalms 40:8 “I delight to do your will, O my God…” Psalms 119:77 “For your law is my delight…” Isaiah 11:3 “His delight shall be in the ear of the Lord…” Isaiah 58:13 “…if you call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable…then you shall take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth…” Romans 7: 22 “For I delight in the law of God…” There are many other verses speaking of delight. We hear that God is omnipotent and sufficient in Himself, this is true, yet at the same time He is like a child desiring to be delighted in. God has opened His heart to vulnerability and in many cases we have only stomped on it in return, yet he continuously opens his heart to us again and again, trying to allure us away from this substitutes this world offers. Yes, God has a heart just like yours, with many more aspects that we didn’t’ discuss. But remember this, that your heart is fashioned after God’s, that He understands your deepest desires, and that He is willing to meet you where you are.

Isaiah 43:4 “…because you are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you.”