The Broken(up) Heart

By pastorbillwalden

I have been a Christian who has allowed my heart to become hard against God.  I have known the results. They were not good, I was not blessed, and life was much harder.

I have known the joys of having a surrendered heart.  Life was not perfect, but it was better. There was joy in sorrow, hope in trials, and a deep sense of purpose and direction, even when I was unsure of where I was going.  That might sound contradictory, but many know that it is not.

The people of God who lived during Jeremiah’s time were “doing the Christian thing”.  Of course, it wasn’t Christianity yet, for Christ had not yet been born, but that would be our current day metaphor.  They were doing their “religious worship thing” with God, but it wasn’t rewarding, because their hearts were not sincere.

God spoke to them through Jeremiah in terms they understood: farming.

Jeremiah 4:3 Break up your fallow ground, and do not sow among thorns.

A farmer needs to break up the hard, untilled soil before he can sow his seed.  Otherwise, the seed lands on hard ground, does not germinate beneath the soil, and dies on top of the hard pack.  It is an easy illustration to understand.

But imagine a farmer, walking along, throwing seed among thorns.  From a distance, he looks like a hardworking farmer.  From a distance, he looks like he is industrious, not lazy, and applying himself to what is needed for life.  He looks like a farmer…from a distance.

It isn’t until he is seen up close that the observer realizes the poor man is wasting his time.  He is sowing good seed among thorns.  He has refused to do the hard part, the first thing, and wants only to do the easy part of farming.  He loves “the idea” of being a farmer, but doesn’t want to have to do the hard work of a farmer.

A farmer that takes such a shortcut, and refuses to do the harder job of breaking up the soil, ought not to expect anything from his efforts.

There are many today that have adopted the same attitude.  There are many who “used to be Christians”.

1. They read their Bible.
2. They went to church.
3. They gave money to the church.
4. They quit doing some things that were considered bad.
5. They tried to fit in, do what the pastor said, and “be a good Christian”.

There are many who, in my opinion, never did the first thing. They never did the harder thing. They never allowed their hearts to be plowed, broken up, softened, opened, exposed, made vulnerable, etc.

Please realize that there is a huge difference between a hurt heart and a plowed heart.  The difficulties of life will hurt you, but that doesn’t mean your heart is broken open for the purposes of God.  It just means that you have suffered. Both hurting and plowing touch the heart, but only plowing opens the heart unto God.

I believe many have done and do “the Christian thing”, but never get the true results of what God would want for them. How could this be? One answer is that they sowed the seed, but never allowed their hearts to be tilled by God.

From a distance, it all looks the same. But up close, I believe that many hearts are never allowed to be plowed by God.

Is this condition irreversible? Absolutely not. One can turn to God any time, put his hands behind as back as to not interfere, and surrender to the plowing of God. Then, and only then, can any true harvest of the soul take place.

The farmer also knows that plowing is seasonal and regular.  It isn’t done just once, but as needed.

If a person wants a true, deep, life changing relationship with God through Jesus Christ, you must allow the plowing of your heart to take place. A shallow or hard heart will produce no spiritual fruit, even though one is engaged in “Christian activity”. Eventually, the lazy farmer grows tired of throwing seed into the thorns.  After much activity which brings results, he will not even try to look like a farmer, claiming that “this farming things just doesn’t work”.

Allow God to plow your heart. Let Him into to the deepest places. Let Him plant His Word, and be blessed by the results.

There are many arguments and ideas about why a person turns from God, or never has a “real Christian experience”. Certainly, this scenario applies.

Is your heart broken, or is it broken up, plowed, and opened to God?