Heart Tenderizer

I was listening to a sermon on the radio recently. The preacher was talking about the matter of divorce and the fact that it happens because of hardened hearts. (Matthew 19:8) Having been through a divorce and  having learned from God about it along the way, there weren't a whole lot of new "aha!" moments in that sermon for me. But the pastor did say one thing that caught me off guard with the imagery it evoked. Jesus is a heart tenderizer. Hmmm... My spirit immediately recognized those words as truth. I'd just never heard Him described quite that way.

The first image that came to mind was one of those hammers with little spikes on it.You know, the ones you beat the meat with until it's tender. There are others that have what looks like nails coming out the bottom and you actually pierce the meat. Considering them in regards to my heart, these tools look more like toruture devices than cooking gadgets. But that's exactly how Jesus used the circumstances in my life as tools to tenderize my hard and heavy heart.

A hard heart ignores God's voice. A hard heart rejects his mercy as unnecessary. A hard heart lashes out at the the One who loves it. A hard heart thinks it's got it all under control. And then life comes crashing down. When my first husband left, the life I knew was obliterated in a moment. I thought it was the worst thing that had ever happened to me. And you know what? Living on the other side of that disaster now, I would never change a thing. That devastation  removed my shaky foundation so I could be rebuilt from the inside out. Our divorce became the most effective heart tenderizer for both of us in the end. As I turned to my Father in the failure of my first marriage, the miracle of Romans 8:28 became reality for me - "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

No discipline is pleasant at the time (Hebrews 12:11), though, and the best way to avoid the "meat tenderizer" is not to become hardened at all. We are warned in Hebrews 3:8-9, "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert". Because of their hard hearts, a journey that should have taken days took FORTY YEARS. And in the end, the ones who started the journey to the Promised Land never made it. Just remember-the only thing that can keep you from God's promises is you. Will you trust Him with that hard heart of yours today?

Father, thank You for Your Word that instructs and corrects me. Help me to listen for Your voice, and show me where my heart is hard today. Give me the courage to trust You with it, to soften and tenderize it when necessary. Remind me that everything You do is out of love, even if it doesn't feel good.

In His faithful love,

Amy

copyright 2010, Amy Wallace