I was walking through a friend's garden with my Nikon D810 camera and Micro-Nikkor 200mm macro lens in hand, hoping to capture the curves and color of flowers. These are times I love. I experience such a thrill when I look through the lens and see in new and deeper ways. God's glory shines in the beauties found in the garden.
But this day there were few flowers in bloom because of the season. Then I turned the corner and the beauty of this red camelia in full bloom caught my eye. I had found what I was looking for. So I went into action with my camera, taking time to focus in on the delicate edges of those colorful petals.
As I looked into the face of this flower, I saw a gentle softness that spoke volumes to me.
Having a soft heart is something the Holy Spirit produces in us. There is a gentleness, a kindness that ministers to everyone in the presence of those with soft hearts. My mother had the softest heart I've ever known. When I think of Jesus, I think of a soft heart. The soft heart is a healing heart that touches, moves and changes its environment. Just as this beautiful red camelia stood out in a garden that had so few blooms on that day, so the soft heart is a stand-out in a world where most people are out for themselves.
Having a soft heart is a beautiful thing. So how can our heart get soft and receptive to God's work in us?
Jeremiah gives us insight into how we can have a soft heart —
I will give them a heart to know Me, for I am the LORD; and they will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with their whole heart.
Jeremiah 24:7 NIV
The soft heart is the heart that knows the Lord and walks with Him in life. The answer for hardness of heart is to turn to the Lord and seek to know Him. Open the pages of His Word and live there for awhile and see what God does in your heart. The Holy Spirit is faithful to take God's Word and apply it just where you need it most.
Lilias Trotter speaks of the work of God's Spirit in our hearts —
The in-dwelling Spirit whom we have received by faith holds sway over our hearts by heavenly impulses, that throb within us like the pulsing we have all noticed in living water. If we respond to that urging, He is set free in power. He is the Spirit whom God has given to all them that obey Him. The needs-be is that that we should yield to His touch, in heart-sensitiveness and quick, full co-operation, whether the inward call is to action, or utterance, or prayer, letting Him work His way, as the hidden spring frees the silted channel—our aim, as Faber puts it, "only not to impede the sweet grace from above."
Lilias Trotter in A Blossom In The Desert compiled and edited by Miriam Rockness
So today, dear friend, draw near to God and know and love Him. May your heart grow soft and receptive to the Lord. And may you experience His sweet grace from above.
Lord, thank You for Your mercy, grace, and kindness flowing from a soft heart. Help us live in the light of Your love today, and pour out Your rivers of living water in our innermost being. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Blessings ♡ Grace
