A Broken Heart

When my daughter, Alyson, was just a toddler, I picked her up from daycare to find her covered elbow to elbow with magic marker, generously lavished on her by a young friend. I took her home and as I cleaned up the mess, I gently convinced her never to let anyone mark on her with a magic marker again. Unfortunately, just two years later at age 5, she began to battle a rare childhood cancer. Her doctor (that was to perform the radiation portion of her treatment) brought her into the room and placed her on the exam table. He told her to lie perfectly still while he made his marks across her abdomen and chest where the protective plate would lie during her radiation treatments. Alyson, ever the obedient child, lay perfectly still while tears streamed from her eyes. When the doctor asked what was wrong, she simply replied, “My Daddy doesn’t want me to let anybody write on me!!!!”
My daughter’s act of disobedience (at least in her mind) broke her little heart. She wanted to please me in every way and the thought of disobeying me was more than her heart could bear. As I have reflected on this scene and played it over and over in my mind over the last ten years, I have often asked myself, “Do I feel such pain and heart break when I disobey my Heavenly Father?” Where are the tears, the evident signs of remorse, the simple child-like desire to please my Father in every way ….and the disappointment when I fail?
I John 5:2-3 says: “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.”
God has really made life quite simple for us….we are to love Him with all our heart, mind, body and soul and we are to obey…… Simple …Pure …. Life-changing. And when we fail, and we all do, it should break our heart ….. for a moment , for a day, but not forever. For we serve a glorious Savior that has paid the price for our disobedience and who grants us chance after chance after chance… Not because of who we are…but because of whose we are!!!!!
I trust that today you are living obediently for the Father and that He is well pleased in your love of others and your desire to do his will. If so, you are keeping his commandments and I am sure that a broad smile spreads across His face as He sees a child that so desperately wants to obey. If not, I pray that for just a moment , tears will fill your eyes as you remember all that Christ has done for you and that your little heart will be broken.... and in love for your Father, you will seek His will and walk His way.

Blessings Abound,
WPQ