The Strength of My Heart

When I consider all that is at stake in this journey I am on, how vulnerable are my heart and the hearts of those I love, I am moved to fall on my face and cry out to God for the grace to remember. George MacDonald says it better in poetry:

Were there but some deep, holy spell, whereby
Always I should remember thee ...
Lord, see thou to it, take thou remembrance’s load:
Only when I bethink me can I cry;
Remember thou, and prick me with love’s goad.
When I can no more stir my soul to move,
And life is but the ashes of a fire;
When I can but remember that my heart
Once used to live and love, long and aspire—
Oh, be thou then the first, the one thou art;
Be thou the calling, before all answering love,
And in me wake hope, fear, boundless desire.
(Diary of an Old Soul )

The final burden of remembrance does not rest on us; if it did, we should all despair. Jesus is called the “author and perfecter of our faith” (Rom. 12:2). He is the One who put the romance in our hearts and the One who first opened our eyes to see that our deepest desire is fulfilled in him. He started us on the journey, even though we may for long seasons forget him, he does not forget us.

I am always with you;
you hold me by my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will take me into glory ...
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever. (Ps. 73:23–24, 26)

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