Chapter Three: The Broken Heart

“He heals the brokenhearted, and binds up their wounds.” Psalm 147:3

Just as a farmer must break up the hard ground before planting, our hearts must be prepared before the Holy Spirit of God can do a work in us. The term “broken heart” is often used in literature to describe unrequited love. In actuality, a broken heart is absolutely necessary to acknowledge the sin of pride in our lives and humble ourselves in order that we might receive Love. God has already made atonement for our transgressions, but without our understanding that we are literally dead in our sin, much like the farmer’s fallow field, we have no hope for new life.

“A broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise.” Psalm 51:17

Why does God love a broken and contrite heart? Because it is a field fit for planting. A hard heart nullifies the cross of Christ and putrifies the powerful promises of God. This is the same stuff that brought a holy angel of God to be wholly wicked. It took a “good” creation and made it bad. It caused the first woman to desire to rule over her husband, and every woman after her. Call it what you want. I call it pride.

Pride leads us into believing the lies of Satan. It brought him down from his lofty position of servitude to God. He was not content with the place of honor that God had given him. He wanted more. This is where we come in. God created a “good” world. But because of the disobedience of Eve and, ultimately, Adam, sin was brought into the world and made it evil. Sin is a sickness leading to death. Not simply death of the body, but an eternal death. Pride is at the root of all sin. The same pride that brought down Satan also deceived Eve into thinking she could be like God. Had she even considered that all her needs were met and that she lived in a perfect world? She then persuaded her husband to follow. In their disobedience, they discovered that they were naked, their sickness exposed. The only way sin could be forgiven was through blood sacrifice, so God killed animals to cover Adam and Eve and their sin. This is the first death. Many rams, sheep and birds were offered upon the altar, thereafter, but none could atone for all the sins of mankind. The offerings fell short, until God himself came to the world as a man and paid the penalty of sin.

Without a broken heart, we are unable to see our sin for what it really is. It is the very thing that keeps us out of communion with our Creator. When we understand the truth about our filthy hearts, we can appreciate the grace by which God came to save us. He chose to die that we might obtain the free gift of eternal salvation and glory and communion with Him!

Entertaining Strangers

If you want to hear from God, just listen. Sometimes He speaks in more than a whisper, but we are making too much noise to hear what He says.

"For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end; while it is said, 'Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as when they provoked Me [in the wilderness].'" Hebrews 3:14,15

As we headed down I-85 Sunday night after church, Mike and I were contemplating the possibility of moving to China. We had just been speaking to a missionary to China that Mike knew from his past trips. She was at home for a visit, and we met with her at church. Being at an occupational crossroads ourselves, we have been discussing many options along the way. This was one of those such conversations.

On approaching our exit, we spotted a carload in distress. The sight of people with car trouble is not all that uncommon, but as I watched some ladies hauling out luggage and setting it in the grass, I knew this group could use a hand. In a moment of spiritual discernment, Mike agreed and began to slowly roll the van back along the edge of the road to meet them. Selfishly, I hoped we could share our faith with the threesome as we left the running van full of kids. I must confess it has been a while since I shared with a stranger.

I was immediately struck by the irony of the situation as I saw the stranded strangers appeared to be Chinese. My thoughts were confirmed by their accents and, of course, in asking if they were from China. Divine appointment. They were headed back home to Houston, Texas. In fact, they weren't headed anywhere at the moment. The car had taken a blow to the median wall as the driver had been spooked by someone in the next lane. Both left tires were damaged. Thankfully, Mike got the front flat changed, and the car just managed to make it into our neighborhood a couple of miles away. I tell you, I am not making this up.

"For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in..." Matthew 25:35

I make no claims to storytelling, so I intend to keep this brief. It is not the details, but the heart of this circumstance that makes it significant. Over the next few hours that night, I experienced the most spontaneous form of hospitality that I am sure I have ever been a part of. My next door neighbor, Kim, who has a Chinese-Cambodian background herself, prepared a most wonderful meal for our guests (her family just happened to be eating very late that night.) She and her husband also welcomed one of our new friends to stay the night. The other two stayed with us.

That night, we had the car towed to another neighbor's service garage. The next day, the car was left behind, not worth the time and repairs that were needed, and Mike took our three friends to the airport for a rental car to drive home. But the time in between made all the difference. Mike and I were both able to plant seeds of hope within the hearts of our gracious guests. I pray the Holy Spirit would make Himself evident to them that they would come to know the Truth and be set free.

At the same time, I cannot speak enough of what a blessing these people were to us. And what a gift to share such a unique experience with my dear neighbors. My whole family was sad to see them go, but I also felt blessed to be able to live out the lesson that Mike Stiles taught on Sunday morning from James 2. "You see that faith was working with his [Abraham's] works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected..." (James 2:22) God will provide the opportunity for us to "work out our salvation with fear and trembling." (Philippians 2:12) But without His salvation all our works are as filthy rags. (Isaiah 64:6)

Surely, God has spoken to us through this experience, whether it was to bless us with more Chinese friends in the States, or to lead us overseas in ministry, we do not know. What I do know is that I need to listen more closely and expect Him to speak.

"Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it." Hebrews 13:2