Sunday 5/20/2012 6:17 AM
This has been the closing prayer in my devotional materials
for the week: “Enlarge my heart, dear Lord, that I may truly love you and live
in harmony with all my fellows.” I
prayed the prayer at the end of my devotional time for the past week but this
morning I thought about what it means to have an enlarged heart.
Earlier this week marked the forty-third anniversary of my
dad’s death. He died at the age of forty-two
after suffering with emphysema for a number of years. They performed an autopsy after his death and
discovered that he had an enlarged heart.
An enlarged heart can be caused by certain kinds of medication but in
his specific case the doctors surmised that his heart had to work harder to
pump more blood throughout his body. His
emphysema precluded the proper oxygenation of his blood so the heart had to
increase the flow of blood to ensure his cells had the proper amount of
oxygen. My dad’s enlarged heart was the
result of his suffering with emphysema.
My reading today includes 1 Peter 5:10-11, “And the God of
all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have
suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and
steadfast.” It would seem that God also
uses the suffering in my life to make me stronger and more steadfast and firm
in my faith. I see the adversity in my
life as something to avoid at all costs.
I want a nice leisurely stroll through life but God knows what will make
me stronger and what will enlarge my heart.
When I suffer and when I enter into the suffering of others their burden
is lifted, my heart is enlarged, and my faith is strengthened. Praise the God of all grace.
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