You are part of an education in unconditional love.
Every person you meet is your homework.
Life is the classroom.
God is the teacher.
You are His student.
Life long learners go to the head of the class.
Problems are simply part of the curriculum.
Sometimes you may feel like you’re failing but this is when you are learning the most.
What doesn’t challenge you, doesn’t change you.
In school you’re taught a lesson and then given a test.
In God’s classroom you’re given a test that teaches you a lesson.
Jesus turns tests into testimonies,
messes into messages and
trials into triumphs.
Pain doesn’t mean God is punishing you; He is preparing you.
Trust His plan not your pain.
All things work together for good to those that love God.
Your heart is a hub.
Every arena of life intersects with what’s going on in your heart.
Everything.
You can figure out what’s in a person’s heart by what comes out of their mouth.
Negative experiences – hurts, hangups – have a tendency to get stuck in your heart.
Hurt people, hurt people.
Whole people help people.
Heart strength is having the faith and courage to meet the demands of reality.
Keep your mind right, your soul light, your heart strong.
For today, I will live…
head up.
heart strong.
“My flesh and my heart may fail but God is the strength of my heart. And my portion forever.” Psalm 71:26
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Very profound Pastor Bob. I have always believed that God has a larger agenda in operation than I am aware of and I need to be open to hearing and doing the part assigned to me. Moving that belief the 18 inches from my head to my heart (academic belief to experiential belief) has rarely come without pain. Pain is not fun, but it can mature us and qualify us to serve others if we can look through it with God’s eyes and find the life lessons in it. God shows up (and sometimes shows off) in the most significant and memorable ways in the midst of suffering…as we lean on Him. Losing my first wife Marilyn to the High Level Bridge was and is the most painful thing I have encountered. God showed up big time in the midst of that darkness. A friend came over a few days after Marilyn’s death and read Psalm 77 to me. Paraphrased, it says ‘I am in such a dark place I can’t see or feel anything, but I remember God showing up for me or others in the past and that is my guarantee that He is there and working despite my temporary blind state’. God’s faithfulness is the only thing that can bridge that critical 18 inches between head and heart.
Dan Klemke
Dan, thank you so much for commenting. In sharing about Marilyn you have said a lot to anyone who reads this post about being Heart Strong. You ARE Heart Strong. You have learned a lot in God’s classroom.
Beautiful poem. I see you live out your ‘love people’ philosophy and wonder how a self professed introvert does it. I want to confess, ‘I hate homework’, but I am too ashamed of myself. This course is too difficult, I want to drop it, but since signing up, ‘Jesus won’t let me go’. I am forced to continue despite repeated failure. Now I know how you do it, Psalm 71:26. Only He can help me move from knowing to doing. I trust He will do for me what He’s done for you.
Hi Shirley. You are part of my classroom and you’ve taught me great lessons in compassion and perseverance. Always glad to call you a friend!