My Melting Heart

Weren’t the snows beautiful last week? My children had a couple of days off from school. We played in the snow, made snow cream, went sledding, and generally enjoyed our time together. On Thursday of last week, I went hiking at a local park, and enjoyed the snow by myself. It was the first of regular appointment I have committed to make with myself—to spend a day each month with just me and God. It’s so easy to get distracted by all the busyness of life, and I’ve decided that in addition to a daily devotion time, I have to remove myself from life once a month and focus on spiritual renewal.

Thursday was that day when the morning started out a bit brisk, but by the afternoon the temperatures had risen dramatically. When I started my hike, snow was still on the ground in most places. By the time I ended my hike, most of it was gone, except in the shady areas. Rivulets of water turned the trail into a little stream, and the ground was mushy everywhere I walked. Still, despite the mud, it was a beautiful day.

When lunchtime came, I sat down beside a little stream. There I noticed a bit of ice that still clung to the underside of a log. Warming water had swept most of it away, but still this bit tenaciously refused to let go. That’s when God spoke to me about my heart.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been going through a bit of a personal revival. God has been cleansing me from the inside-out. God has been teaching me patience, devotion, and many other things. Through the ice, God said, “My Living Water is flowing over you all the time, washing away the your cold, hard sin. But still, in the dark shady parts of your heart, sin still hangs on. How long will you dam up the flow with your own hard-heartedness? When will you let it melt away and break free?”

I believe God says this to each of us, especially during this introspective season of Lent, when we ask God to reveal our sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness. I invite you to pray the prayer of Psalm 139:23-25 (Amplified Bible) with me:

Search me [thoroughly], O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there is any wicked or hurtful way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.