The following is excerpted from Erin’s book Finding Him.
One year as my son was combing through his Halloween candy haul, he came across a handful of Jolly Ranchers and paused. He stopped, collected them all up, and asked me if he could give them to Addie Lou, a girl in his class. He explained they are her very favorite. I sent a quick text to her mom, confirming it would be okay for him to gift them to her at school the next day and the response I received made me giggle. It went a little something like this, “ Yes! She would love them. She actually got hurt at gymnastics practice today and was unable to trick or treat due to the pain.”
You could easily chalk this up to a “that’s awesome” moment. You could even pass by it all together and miss the connection. I can’t even begin to fathom how many times I have probably done just that. For whatever reason though, that night, I saw it was more. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that our big God, the God capable of parting seas and healing the blind, was showing just how much He cared about sweet Addie Lou. Enough that He not only ordained the circumstances for a classmate to provide candy so that she didn’t miss out, but was in the itty bitty detail of it even being her favorite candy. It mattered to Addie, and because she matters to God, it mattered to Him. God saw Addie. He wanted her to rest in the fact she loves a God who notices her. Just the same, God sees you, and it is of great concern to Him that not only are you aware of this, but that in the depth of your gut, you would know it to be true.
God sees you.
In reference to Mark chapter 7, Austin Gentry stated, “Jesus’ mission was not about fixing the apparent problems of human culture, so much as it was about redeeming the inherent problems of human hearts.” I believe part of why we want to run from God and play the cynic is that it’s easy to believe God is a God of behavior modification and that a life of faith in Jesus requires us to do a, b, and c and avoid doing x, y, and z. We have an innate struggle in us that leads to our hang-ups with performance, doubt, and unbelief.
I have had the privilege of leading a bible study for a group of girls since they were in 8th grade. They are now juniors in high school and four years into meeting around my living room floor I bet they would tell you I am a broken record about this one very thing in particular: that God cares about their hearts. If it is the only thing they remember from their time in my home, it was well worth the nights; because if God didn’t care about the heart, it wouldn’t be the one thing He continuously pursues.
I remember when I knew I had made the change from having the right answer to having the right heart posture when I traded in my perfect answers for the plea of the man weeping on his knees, “I believe, help me in my unbelief”. It is from this place of humility that we begin to experience the fullness of a life tethered to our Savior and where we are able to hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for we know He who promised is faithful.
He is a God who gave us the choice to love him. When other religions demand you love their god, Christianity offers you the choice. He doesn’t need us, He wants us. He chose us, and in choosing us, He even comes down to get us just like the Father who rushes out to meet his lost son. He does not make us work to get to Him. He takes the lowest seat. He wants to restore us, redeem our hearts, and reconcile us back to Him.
One way He accomplishes this is by His endless courting of us regardless of our actions. When Adam and Eve are in the garden God asks “Where are you?” He is asking about their posture towards Him. In fact, He could have worded it “Where is your heart?”. He draws them towards Him, reminding them that He sees all of it: the physical and the spiritual. He is doing the same with us all these years later. As He cared for Adam and Eve, He cares for you. He is not a God who longs for our lip service. He always desires our hearts more than the things we do for him.
So as Paul pleaded with the believers in Hebrews 3:15, I will plead with you: “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts” (ESV) for we cannot hear or see Him with a calloused heart. And friend, just like with Addie Lou, He wants you to see that He is there. He has nothing to prove to you and yet He still makes an effort to show you personally that His Word never fails.
Just like God cares more about what is happening on the inside than what we are portraying outwardly, God’s winks are not about Him changing our circumstances, but rather they are about showing us He is within them.
Just like God cares more about what is happening on the inside than what we are portraying outwardly, God’s winks are not about Him changing our circumstances, but rather they are about showing us He is within them. God could have very well healed Addie so that she could go out that night. Instead, He let her sit in her sadness so that He could provide for her heart in a mighty and powerful way. There was no room for her to feel unnoticed by her Father because her circumstances did not change in being able to participate, and yet, the holiday celebration still improved. He still showed up. Her childhood joy was amplified for no other reason than for Him to be present with her.
He is chasing our hearts, our souls, and our minds in hopes that we may return to the pose that we have a good God, a kind Father, and He is on the throne keeping us in mind. He provides rest to us in our weary working humanity and He does so in ways that we can only say “You cannot make this stuff up”. In doing so, it effortlessly points all the glory to Him so we are not tempted to believe it has anything to do with goodness in us, rather knowing it is His goodness in spite of us.
Gentry, Austin. “Meaning of Mark 7:24-30.” Austin Gentry.
n.d. Accessed July 30, 2024. https://doi.org/https://www.austingentry.com/meaning-mark-724-30/.