31 Days of Hindsight: Day 18

31 Days of Hindsight: Day 18

As I look back tonight before bed, I see how God, yet again, wove my yesterdays and today together in a seamless tapestry.  Luke 1 and 2 are my hindsight journal notes speaking into today and today is actually the Sunday before Christmas, how timely! The message at church revolved around Mary and being pregnant with possibility.

We are all a MARY, meant to deliver Jesus to a watching, waiting, expectant world!

Mary’s Song has always captivated me. I love that she was a ponderer. She treasured things in her heart and her “heart song” is a treasure I will hold in mine forever, inspiring me to write my own melody for Jesus!

Just in case you have never heard Mary’s Song, I am including the Message version here. Prepare to be blessed. Let it sink in and sing over you, inspiring you too write your own HEART SONG!

And Mary said,

I’m bursting with God-news;
I’m dancing the song of my Savior God.
God took one good look at me, and look what happened—
I’m the most fortunate woman on earth!
What God has done for me will never be forgotten,
the God whose very name is holy, set apart from all others.
His mercy flows in wave after wave
on those who are in awe before him.
He bared his arm and showed his strength,
scattered the bluffing braggarts.
He knocked tyrants off their high horses,
pulled victims out of the mud.
The starving poor sat down to a banquet;
the callous rich were left out in the cold.
He embraced his chosen child, Israel;
he remembered and piled on the mercies, piled them high.
It’s exactly what he promised,
beginning with Abraham and right up to now.

Luke 1:46-55 MSG

That song takes my breath away:

“I’M DANCING THE SONG OF MY SAVIOR GOD!”

The overflow of Mary’s heart made mine overflow too! Below is what splashed on the pages of my journal last summer in response to Mary’s Song. I was “bursting with God-news.”

Katie said:

You are my constant in the inconsistent.

You are my peace in the fight.

You are my joy in the fear.

You are my full in the empty.

You are my dance in the rain.

You are my clean in the filthy.

You are my Rock in the shifting sand.

You are my Word in the silence.

You are my Light in the dark.

You are my Friend in the loneliness.

You are my Father in the orphaned moments.

You are my beauty in the ugly.

You are my wholeness in the broken.

You are my EVERYTHING in the “I AM NOTHING!”

What would your heart song be?

I will conclude with a short story from the documentary I just “happened” to watch last night. I say that sarcastically because there are no coincidences in God’s economy.

I read the book, The Insanity of God , several years ago.

The Insanity of God is the true story of missionaries Nik and Ruth Ripken. After the death of their son, this ordinary couple journeys into the depths of the persecuted church, asking the question – IS JESUS WORTH IT?

How does faith survive, let alone flourish in the places of the world that are overcome with the darkness of sin, despair and hopelessness? Join the Ripkens as they tell the story of being taught by believers in persecution “how to follow Jesus, how to love Jesus, and how to walk with Him day by day even when it doesn’t make sense.”

The film is based on the best-selling book The Insanity of God and is released in association with the International Mission Board.

And last night I watched the documentary that tells their story . (**A great Christmas present for anyone!!!)

One particular story Nik Ripkin shares is of a dad who was imprisoned for 17 years, simply because he was a follower of Christ.  When this father entered prison, he was the only Christian in a sea of 1500 hardened criminals.  While there, every morning at sunrise for 17 years, he would stand and face the east and sing his “heart song” to God.  Who knows how long the heckling may have lasted but when this devoted father and follower of Christ left prison after 17 years, every man in the prison stood and faced the east and sang his “heart song.”  If that doesn’t wreck you, in the best sort of way, then nothing will!

What would the world sing if they heard our “heart song” every morning for 17 years?

“A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.” Luke 6:45 NLT

Mary overflowed a treasure.

The faithful father in prison overflowed a treasure, as well.

What treasure will we overflow?

*I would love to hear some of your “heart songs” in the comments!!!!

See you tomorrow on Day 19 of our 31 Days of Hindsight together!!!