Let them see your heart Let 'em see just how beautiful you are

This morning i set my alarm to get up for my 30 minutes and to study for a quiz and neither happened. I sat in a chair and immediately fell asleep. The fact that I woke up an hour and a half later with enough time to change, walk my dog and get to school was pure grace. I woke up the second time at 7:30 -- class starts at 8. Thus I thought my 30 minutes had to wait.  As I'm walking the dog and then back down the stairs to my car I was talking to God about how I was so mad at myself for falling asleep and how much I appreciated starting my day with that time this week and how He has been teaching me so much about beauty and love and heart that I didn't want to miss that time or wait for it. I prayed for Him to show up in my day and got in the car.

A mixed CD is in my stereo right now and a song I haven't really ever listened to is on there. It's not a christian song its called "You cry a tear to start a river" by Between the Trees. As the song played it was almost as thought the spirit was speaking even through something that wasn't about Him.  Part of the lyrics say the following:

So you look into
You look into the water
And there you are
Just the way you left yourself
All alone
But lift your head
And look across the water
'Cause there you'll see
All of us together singing
Darling grab a hand
We promise not to let you stand alone

So stand close to me
Don't sail away, baby
Let them see your heart
Let 'em see just how beautiful you are

You're like nobody else, you see
Nothing less than any girl in your magazine
Don't you know you're special?
You're really something special
Baby

Now I don't know but I'm going to guess the song is about a girl that some guy is trying to pursue. But how perfectly does this go with everything I've been going. We could be the trinity. 3 parts: the father, the son and the spirit- that all add up to 1 holy God.  Don't they stand across our obstacles (a lake, an addiction, a pain) and saying that they are just within reach if we will just reach out for them? If we just get on the battlefield? Doesn't God promise to be near us? Didn't He just show my friend that He would stand with us ? So the chorus calling for the hearer to stand close and show their beauty is just beautiful. For the song to go on to talk about beauty and being special is just again another testament to an intimate love with God. 

As if that wasn't good enough I get to school and a friend calls and prayed for me and for my day. How awesome that I slept through what I thought was my 30 minutes that I planned but in the 30 minutes prior to school starting He used them to show me where I need to be -- next to Him and that even if I didn't have 30 minutes to pray for His presence that He would show up anyways in a song and in a friend. I have been praying that He show up in an undeniable way and that's what He did this morning. 

It's beautiful that He can speak through people and through songs that aren't about Him and through other life experiences of the day to where He is just so present and it's comforting. It goes back to what I was learning the other day about God truly pursuing us and wanting us more than we could ever want Him. We are so limited in our ability to think and love but God is without limits and that is beautiful. 

I watched a message by John Eldredge last night and he made the point that the most beautiful thing is not when you meet Jesus it's when you fall in love with Him and to do that you must understand his personality. That there is a depth to Him and a humanity to Him that we can relate to and love. The more I pray for his presence the more I see how true that is. I'd argue that He has a sense of humor, and is a romantic, and is witty. He is strong and yet sweet and seeing that is truly beautiful. 

So as the song requests "Let them see your heart Let 'em see just how beautiful You are." is perhaps what we are called to as we pray for his presence and navigate being a light in the world. That our hearts be so wrapped up in Him that they become beautiful and that we show them to the world so that the "your heart" in the first part is our hearts as christians, that second "you" that I capitalized is the great I am. 

Needless to say God planned my 30 minutes this morning to be all about Him in a way that I never could have planned. Of course I will still be spending my 30 minutes in prayer later today but I just have to recognize the incredible 30 minuts this morning and encourage you to know that God will show up in ways you couldn't image. I've been telling God "Speak Lord for your servant is listening." and thus He is speaking and I couldn't be more excited. 

So for all of you doing this challenge with me I pray you are learning as much as I am and for those of you who are sharing what you are learning-- THANK YOU. It is so encouraging and beautiful to see God working. I know He will do even bigger things in December. 2011 isn't over yet!