My friend Kim loves to collect heart shaped rocks, and when I walked along the beach with her this last summer, I got into the spirit of it. What surprised me is how many heart shaped rocks there are around, nestled in amongst other shapes and sized. I never noticed them until I started looking however.
Looking for heart shaped rocks is a little like looking for the love of God. We often don’t noticed it, nestled down into the crevasses of our lives until we start to very deliberately look for it. It hovers over us like a canopy of warmth and protection. It walks beside us like an embrace of friendship and comfort. It penetrates inside us like a flame igniting the God presence within.
What is your response?
What “heart shaped rocks of blessing” have you failed to notice? Sit quietly and nestle into the love of God. Close your eyes and imagine God hovering above you. What do you see? Are there ways God is prompting you to open your eyes to be more aware of that loving presence?
Now imagine God walking beside you. What comes to mind? Are there ways that God is inviting you to follow more closely?
Now imagine God deep within your heart. In what ways are you aware of God’s presence radiating within you? Are there steps you need to take to walk more intimately with God?
heart shaped rocks from a summer beach walk
I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. (Ephesians 3:16-19 NLT)
The blessings of God can be summed up in one word – love. Living into the blessing of that love which dwells above, around and within is the journey of our lives. The journey towards God is a journey towards unconditional love, towards belonging and towards a meaningful life.
What is your response?
Watch the video below. What heart shaped encounters have you had recently with God? Write a love letter to God spelling out the blessings of God’s presence within, around and above you. Sit quietly and read through what you have written, relishing the new found intimacy that I am sure this will bring.
3 comments
Some years ago, walking along the shore of the retreat house where I was praying for “a clean heart” to hear the word of God, I tripped over a rock in the sand. I bent down to see a white edge or rock. When I dug it out, I could see clearly, it was a heart shaped rock smoothed and washed by the tumbling water.
Beautiful Gerry – God’s “heart shaped love” really is everywhere.
Appreciated this post Christine. I have a heart shaped rock on my dresser which has special importance to me.. At one of our Chaplaincy conferences we were asked to choose from a pile of rocks on the floor which one spoke to us. I picked up the heart shaped one, that represented my love for the team. Its sometimes hard going to carry a heart of love for others, but I remember how this morning I wrote in my journey ‘God claim my heart for you’. His heart of love for us, continually strengthens us to love others.