A Heart that Burns

“Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road

and opened the Scriptures to us?”

Luke 24:32 NIV

I remember the first time my heart burned within me. It was in 1978. I was standing in the middle of my kitchen floor crying out to God. My cry was one that begged an answer, “God why did mom have to die? After all, I know plenty of people who don’t give you a second thought and never go to church. Why didn’t you take them? My mom was a good woman who never said a bad word about anybody and was a loyal and faithful follower of yours. God, why did you have to take her?”

I was in my early thirties and just starting my family. Didn’t God know that I needed my mom and that my children needed a grandmother? Over and over again I argued with God, “God, what were you thinking? You most certainly have made a mistake on this one!” The fact was, I simply loved her and could not let her go.

Now over thirty years later, I still remember the burning in my heart when God lovingly spoke his truth to me. He gently brought to my mind this scripture, “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror, then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” I Corinthians 13:12 NIV

Tears streamed down my face and my heart burned within me as I realized that God loved me so much that he would come to my town, my house, my kitchen and into my heart and speak his perfect words of healing to me. I no longer needed to know why. I accepted the fact that here on earth I may only know in part and my vision will be clouded. I embraced the fact that someday in heaven; I would see clearly and understand completely.

If you have never experienced your heart burning within you, you will. God is faithful to all who love and seek him. You may not get answers to all of your questions, or experience God showing up in such a real way on every occasion, but I tell you the truth he knows when and where you need him the most and he will make himself known to you in the places and times that he chooses. When that happens, your heart will burn within you. You will feel the sweet presence and love of God. The truth is that God’s Holy Spirit speaks to you at that time when you need him most. That experience will never leave you. Your heart will burn within you.

Because God has met my need in a few brief “holy moments” I am able to trust him all the more during the times when I do not feel his presence. In the times that I do not feel his presence or hear his voice I will still choose to walk in faith knowing that he is always near. After all, God has promised to never leave us or forsake us. Joshua 1:5 NIV I claim that promise for my life.

Questions:

Have you ever experienced you heart burning within you?

If so, what do you remember about that day, that place, that time?

Prayer:

Dear God,

Help me to treasure the moments in my life that you have spoken to me in a very real way. I want to store up those memories in my heart and reflect back on them throughout my life as a source of strengthening my faith. God, it seems that the times when my heart has burned within me are too few and far between. So today, I do not pray for the experience but I do pray to draw closer to you so that when you do speak I will hear. Thank you that you never leave me or forsake me.

In Your Son’s Name I pray. Amen.