"The person who shuns the bitter moments of friends
will be an outsider at their celebrations."
Proverbs 14:10, The Message

'The heart knows its own bitterness, 
and no stranger can share its joy."
Proverbs 14:10, God's Word translation

"Verse 10 brings out the reality of the inaccessible character of the human heart. According to Scriptural usage, the heart is the center of man's inner life, the center of thought and motivation, and not merely emotion. Only God knows the heart thoroughly, but he does. We are required to operate on the basis of externals. This Proverbs is simply an observation about the nature of human privacy. Our experiences of bitterness, sorrow, or joy are our own, and in some fundamental ways cannot be shared."
Biblical commentary from www.leithart.com


I suppose I could continue cutting and pasting from other websites but I think most of you are just as interested in my opinion and thoughts on the verse above. 

The human heart is an amazing organ.  One of the pastors at my church spoke about the heart this past weekend and did an amazing job, but even he would probably admit that you just can't do it justice by explaining it in a 30 minute sermon.  The heart is both powerful and delicate ... it can withstand years of physical abuse but has a difficult time withstanding even a few seconds or minutes of emotional abuse.  But as the commentary above states, the heart is not just the emotional epicenter of man, it's the place where motivation and thought originate.

I believe I qualify to talk about heartache.  I think, without having to spend any time at all proving my case, that I can speak on the subject of a bruised, and even broken heart.  I'm sure you could too, and I want you to know that I respect that.  I respect what you've endured, and lived through.  I respect the fact that someone, at some time, has broken your heart and yet you decided to move on with your life.  I've been there too, more than I'd care to admit or remember.

It seems I spend a lot of time thinking about my heart.  I seem to wonder more often than not, why I think a certain way or act a certain way when I know I shouldn't.  It was nice to hear the sermon this weekend ... to hear my pastor say the same things ... to know I'm not alone.  Sometimes after these periods of self-examination I feel like there's no way God could love me.  How could he accept someone so prideful, or arrogant, or mean?  Sure, I do some nice things now and then too, but does that outweigh the bad?

Here's what I think I've learned: our good doesn't have to outweigh our bad.  God doesn't care how bad we were, or are, or will be.  I mean, He's not sitting up there with Jesus at His right hand smiling in approval when I cuss at the guy who cuts me off on the road.  I'm sure based on what I've read and studied that every sin, regardless of the size, breaks His heart ... especially when He sent Jesus to die on the cross for that sin. 

(I'm pausing to make sure that what I say next is accurate ... and doesn't cause anyone to fall ... God be with me).

The point I'm trying to make is this: we as a culture tend to take our approval seeking tendencies and apply them towards our relationship with God (just as we do our family and friends ... and strangers) when we don't really need to.  God knows our heart, and every motivation and emotion within it.  He accepts us anyway.  God knows the bitterness you feel ... and He's okay with it.  He knows that you've entrusted your heart to some people who have trampled on it like a door mat, and He wants you to know that He's different. 

He's not like them, and He loves you.  Amen, and have a blessed day.

"I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some."

1 Corinthians 9:22b

This verse, and the blog I wrote about it, is what started the whole Chasing God 'thing' almost one year ago.  Since then I've written a little over 120 blogs, or about one every three days.  I didn't however write one every three days.  In fact I haven't even written one per month for the last three months.  When I started the Chasing God blog I did so with all the right motives.  It was going to be a journal of my daily interaction with Jesus.  The thoughts I had when I read His word ... the struggles I had as I attempted to apply it to my own life ... and the things I learned along the way.  I thought maybe there might be others who would be interested in my experiences ... and there were.

There were at least 42 people who "followed" the blog via facebook every day.  There were people in at least 16 other countries who read the blog at least one time.  Countries like Germany and Australia ... Korea and Russia ... Canada and the United States.  I'd get the most incredible messages from people telling me how it's something they look forward to reading every day, and how it's helped them in their walk with Jesus.  It was appealing to Christians and non-Christians alike and that was great ... it's exactly what I hoped it would do ... and then I sort of lost hope.

I lost hope in what I could accomplish through the blog.  It's not like I ever really set out "to do" anything with it, or through it.  The things that people were telling me were really just the icing on the cake.  It was just a public journal of thoughts and ideas and opinions.  However, once I started hearing and reading the comments I thought "wow, I need to write more" and "do more" and "reach more" ... I need to reach 20 countries ... or 30 ... I need 420 "likes" on facebook, not just 42. 

"God, I need to do more."

I need to do more.  I need ...  I ...

I.

And that's when the well went dry ... so to speak.  I'd try to write and there would be nothing.  A few days passed ... and then a few weeks ... and then a few months.  I kept trying to figure out how I could "top yesterday's story" ... what could I possibly write about that would foster a comment better than the one someone left yesterday?  How can I better at being "all things" to reach more of the "all people?"  I went from documenting my God Chasing to once again trying to chase down the approval of others.  Not because I needed it necessarily ... even I'm amazed at how far I've come in that area of my life.  I'm not sure how I got there, or why.  I just felt like whatever I wrote had to be good ... had to be better than yesterday.  I didn't know how to do that, so I stopped writing.

What I lost sight of was the real appeal of the Chasing God blog.  It had nothing to do with me, or the stories, or the 'hook' at the end, but it had EVERYTHING to do with the fact that I pointed the reader towards Jesus and let Him to the rest ... whatever "the rest" was for a particular person on a particular day.  Sure, I used examples in my own life but it wasn't about me.  I may have been the one typing but it wasn't about me.  I don't think I ever got arrogant or self-centered with the blog ... that's not what I'm saying ... but somewhere along the line I was trying to be too much to too many, and lost track of Who I was supposed to focus on ... a God who was used to being 'too much.'

I missed writing each day.  I hope it isn't too late to start again.  I hope I didn't wait too long.  I hope I didn't miss an opportunity to point someone who needs the saving, healing, life giving power of Jesus Christ towards him.  I hope the 'all' that I have to give and be will still be effective to all people ... so that some might be saved.  Amen, and God bless you.