Who Is On The Throne of Your Heart?
Buzz
off buddy, she burnt you last night!
The setting was a Youth With A Mission (YWAM)
Disciple Training School that I was leading in rural Virginia. A young lady named Kim had arrived at the
training center with a set of conflicting affections. Kim and been raised in a Christian home, but
recently had become involved with a young man who did not share her moral
values. This involvement has taken its
toll on her relationship and walk with God.
At the urging of her mother, Kim had enrolled in our school. As the initial weeks passed, we noticed that
Kim was starting to respond to the love of God.
God’s Word was coming alive in heart again and saying to her, Kim, I love you.
Mid-way through
the school term I found myself in front of the classroom. The students sat there, so eager to know and
serve God. The session topic that day was on the relinquishment of rights; a
message that may very well try their faith. For some it might even determine
whether they would go on with this God thing.
I spoke about the life of Abraham and how he had to give up Isaac, upon
whom all God’s promises were to be fulfilled.
The teaching pointed out that there are things in our lives, some good
and some bad, which if we hold on to, will hinder our intimate relationship
with Him, and put a roadblock in the way of being useful for Him. Normally, we have an application or response
to this teaching. We instruct the students to take some time in prayer after
the session, asking the Lord if there was anything that He wanted them to
relinquish. Was there anything in their
lives that was more important to them than God?
The bonfire would be built and students would come with carefully worded
notes to the Lord written from their hearts.
Apprehensive but determined, students would come and cast slips of paper
into the fire, watching them turn to ash, knowing that the Lord gives and He
takes away. It was an activity between them and God. There was no public
disclosure of what God was requiring of them and if God showed them something
that was fine, and if He didn’t, that was okay also. There was no external pressure applied. But God always seemed to show up.
That day the rain
pelted against the classroom wall. A low pressure area had descended upon us,
and the weather forecast called for twenty-four to thirty-six hours of steady
rain. This sort of precluded a bonfire,
but one of our staff members said; “There is no miracle in the fire, why don’t
we put a candle in a bucket and do it right here in the class room?” We decided we would give it a try. The spiritual atmosphere turned out to be
just as solemn. There is always a sacred
presence in meetings like these. People
bring lifelong dreams and aspirations and place them before God to take or give
back. Young people would often bring
specific relationships or even the right to have a long-term relationship. Young potential missionaries would place even
their call from God in the hands of the Righteous Judge. Neither the young
people, nor God takes lightly the gravity of moments like these.
That
night was no different. The little candle flickered near the rim of the bucket. One by one the students, with notes in hand
and people, plans, and desires running through their minds, approached the
candle. Written on the notes (known only
to them and God) were things like; Lord,
I give you my desire for a spouse. Dear
Lord, I relinquish to you my vision to serve in Africa. Jesus, I lay at your feet my relationship
with my boyfriend or girlfriend. As
they gazed at the paper turning into charred ash, they envisioned their dreams
going up in smoke. Some must have wanted
to pull it back, but they knew if it was never totally given over to God, they
would never know if it was theirs or His.
What was the resounding question reverberating in our minds that
evening? Was there anyone or anything
more important to us than God?
That
night Kim sat near the front of the classroom toward the side. As the meeting progressed, she took out of
her Bible a picture. Yes, it was a photo of her boyfriend. She stared at it for a few moments and then with
great care placed it back in the Bible.
She took it out and put it back at least twice, each time with a longing
expression.
My eyes panned out
across the classroom. Everyone who so
desired had been given the opportunity to respond. As I was about to close the session, Kim
arose with picture in hand and moved toward the front. She had counted the cost
and with a determined look on her face purposed to put God first. Kim placed
the picture in the flame, her expression revealing that it was an object of
great value. It was one of those old
Polaroid pictures that seemed like it was made partly of wax. As the flame started to burn through and melt
the picture, it bent and made a cracking sound. You felt as if you could almost hear her heart
breaking. Her fingertips continued to hold fast to the print. She started to
feel the heat from the flame. Her fingers
separated from the picture and the charred remains dropped into the outstretched hands of a waiting God.
That night there was a change of the residents in her heart; one moved out who
could never totally fulfill her, and one moved in that would never, ever disappoint
her. It was a very memorable moment,
both for Kim and the lover of her soul.
Where the Rubber Met the Road
The
next morning as I was walking toward the dining hall and the pay phone
rang. I almost never answered the pay
phone, but it rang and I was there and so I picked up. Guess who it was? Yes, it was Kim’s boyfriend. What do I say to him? Buzz off, she burnt you last night! No, it was not my place to speak. I told someone to go get Kim. What did she tell the guy? I don’t know.
I never asked her, because frankly it was none of my business. These are sovereign areas that only involved
her, her boyfriend, and God.
I do know that she finished the
school and instead of going back to her home area, she worked for a couple of
years as a missionary with Youth With a Mission. That speaks for itself.
Why
did God have me answer the phone that night?
I think there may be two reasons.
First, He wanted to remind me again that words can sometimes be cheap. It is not what we say but what we do that
counts. Even symbolic gestures such as
burning our notes can be useless unless we are committed to follow
through. The real test for Kim came not
in the classroom that night. Yes, maybe
it started there, but the real test happened when she talked with her
boyfriend. That is where, spiritually
speaking, the rubber met the road. This is where she proved whom she really
loved.
Second, God was trying to reaffirm
to me that relationship with God and the Lordship of Christ are real and
important issues to God. The burning of
our notes was not just a spiritual game we were playing, but an avenue to allow
God to take His rightful place in our hearts.
There is only room for one God in
our hearts. There is the capacity
for many loves in our life, but only after the One True God reigns supreme. Anything that challenges His supremacy and lordship
is a vane idol, which God in His mercy must allow to die. Why? Because He knows idols will never fulfill
those who worship them. That night or
any night, it is really all about; who
is on the throne of your heart?
Adapted from Ken Barnes, TheChicken Farm and Other Sacred Places: The Joy of Serving God in the Ordinary
(Seattle: YWAM Publishing, 2011), 24–27.
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