Dry Hearts Cry Out for Revival
I normally perch myself in the sink to apply my makeup each morning, which puts me extremely close to my reflection. Being very close, affords me the opportunity to see that my eyebrows are not really eyebrows anymore. They have grown wild and free into the temples of my side-face. Also, my forehead has become dried out, and I'm most certain that the culprit was our 3 day Texas winter where temps danced around 29 for all of five minutes. I too have noticed cracking in my lips, and it seems as though smile lines are just on the horizon. All of this I attribute to my impending 30's and my less than desirable skin care regimen.
My Revelation : Only in closeness with the Father, can the small infractions of one's self be revealed. Distance fools us with the illusion that all is well.
Funny how this parallels our relationship with God at times. When Im close, He reveals things to me that need tending to, however, if I stand at a distance, I'm fooled into thinking I'm alright.
Aside from my physical dried out appearance, the Lord has recently taken me inward to show me that I have some dried out areas on the inside that a good facial & Cetaphil can't handle. When He decided to put His thumb on those parts of my heart, I flinched a bit. "Do we have to address that right now?" was my initial response, but really, I know better. I know that His timing reigns supreme and nothing great comes out of self comfort.
Thus, we move deeper into the dried out cracks of my spirit - and yours too if you allow it.
In this season, I'm reminded of this,
"No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."
H I S T O R Y 1 0 1 :
First off, what's is a wineskin??? A wineskin is a goat skin that stored and preserved wine in the old days. It was supple and had the ability to expand and contract, which was most important during the fermentation process when the wine began to bubble. An old wineskin, however, was dried out and lacked the ability to grow with new wine.
Once a wineskin has become dried out, there are only two ways to go about a new one.
1.) Prep another goat for slaughter and harvest the skin - I won't go into the details of that process, a little gruesome i suppose...
2.) Revive the old one - In order to revive the old wineskin, one had to carefully take out all the stitching and apply olive oil- over and over and over. Once the oil had been fully absorbed, the skin would become flexible and moldable. The stitching would then be redone, and the skin would have new purpose.
Something else I find interesting is that 'wine' in the Bible is likened to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
"Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to foolishness and debauchery. Instead be filled up with the Spirit."
Ephesians 5:18
O K A Y N O W, W H E R E W E R E W E...
That being said, I find myself longing for more of Him and tired of the stagnant place of my heart. In return, He has so graciously shown me that before there can be an outpouring of new wine over me, He would like to revive those cracked and peeling spots of my heart first. That will be a journey of prayer and the power of the Holy Spirit, but as scripture says, His best work is completed in the tattered parts of us.
"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast al the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."
2 Cor 12:9
Our cracks and tears provide the ideal opportunity for the display of His divine power. So will you join me in getting in real close, despite the blemishes that await us? Will you allow Him into the locked rooms of your heart? Will you meet Him in the morning before the chaos sets in? Will you continue the conversation that He has already begun with you in the beginning? Because only after we are revived can we be filled up and poured out over.
Lift your dry hearts up to Him for revival, because ONLY in closeness with the Father can we see ourselves for what we truly are...completely undeserving of the life Jesus gave on the cross. YET HE DID IT ANYWAY - Because you and I were the joy set before Him. He came, died, and rose again so that you and I could BE FILLED UP & POURED OUT OVER WITH NEW LIFE!
Praise the Lord - Hallelujah - Amen! Cue the organ and the tambourines !