Divided or Multiplied

The eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. 2Ch 16:9

As I think about what it means to have a perfect heart, I’m reminded of the first time (a couple of decades ago) my Bride and I participated in a Marriage Encounter. As we shared, by learning to write for ten minutes about our feelings, I began to realize that my heart had some hidden areas. It began to dawn on me that we would grow in love only as much as we (and especially I) were willing to be transparent. Scripture says that if we say we are without sin, then we are liars. Yet, we are tempted to pretend to others, and even to God, that we are over the “little” failures of the past just because we have shoved them into a dark closet of our mind.

By God’s grace, I was able to open up and share one of my weaknesses from my “hall of shame”. What was the result? Our love for each other broke through invisible walls and overflowed even our hopes. When we left the Marriage Encounter on Sunday and went to a prayer meeting in the evening, some friends were amazed. They said we were glowing with love.

As a result of our experience at that Marriage Encounter, we were more than ever committed to each other because we had more openness, trust and love. Not only were we closer to each other, but our relationship with God had also gone to a new level.

If anything is weighing on our conscience or is “off limits” to God or our spouse, then our heart is not “perfect” or complete. To keep something hidden requires energy and focus. Our heart, our inner thoughts, can not be perfect toward God as long as we are keeping things hidden. Maybe one reason we do not see more of God’s power in our life or in our church is because our hearts are divided. God is eagerly searching for ways to show His strength in this world. But, He needs men and women with undivided hearts. If we stop living with divided hearts, we will see multiplied effects of God’s power and love in our lives, families and churches.

Project:
Let’s pray --

May God give me grace to be desperate for more love for Him and for a perfectly whole heart.

Let’s do –-

Confess our weaknesses and sins to our spouse, minister, trusted friend or parents. (God will give us strength for even this.)


--We know that all things work together for good to them that love God. Romans 8:28