Photo by Hazel Aksoy  on Unsplash 

From the Book

In her book Sacred Rhythms, Ruth Haley Barton speaks of the importance of exposing our desires in the presence of Jesus.

Jesus himself routinely asked people questions that helped them to get in touch with their desire and name it in his presence. He often brought focus and clarity to his interactions with those who were spiritually hungry by asking them, “What do you want? What do you want me to do for you?” Such questions had the power to elicit deeply honest reflection in the person to whom they were addressed, and opened the way for Christ to lead them into deeper levels of spiritual truth and healing.

…

As I still sometime struggle through the process of accepting the way I am made as a writer, an even deeper desire is becoming clear to me. I want to know Jesus and to live for him as the person, mother, and wife I uniquely am. I want to understand what it means to be fully alive as a woman whose life is united with the life of Christ. As it turns out, writing is part of that for me. It isn’t the whole, but it is important.

<A Million Little Ways> Emily P. Freeman p49-50

Ashley’s Note

Nehemiah sat down, wept, mourned, and fasted for days when he heard that the wall of Jerusalem was broken down, and its gates were burned with fire. (Nehemiah 1 : 3 - 4) His cry was not pretentious, empty, nor unsubstantial. His heart was literally shattered and smashed by the news that the city, his home, had collapsed. What makes me so sure of his sincerity? Because he prayed. Nehemiah not just sat down, wept, mourned, fasted, but he also prayed. (Nehemiah 1 : 4) He prayed for days and months unceasingly and elicited his honest yet fearful reflection on what actual actions to take with the heart-breaking tragedy under his circumstances. He prayed with a cracked heart while living his ordinary life as a cupbearer to the King.

About four months later, the opportunity came. God opened the eyes of the King and had him notice sadness that captivated Nehemiah’s heart. At the end, the King asked Nehemiah the question: “What is it you want?” (Nehemiah 2 : 4) Nehemiah paused for seconds to pray and answered explicitly without the slightest hesitation: Send me to the city in Judah where my fathers are buried so that I can rebuild it. (Nehemiah 2 : 5) Through Nehemiah’s cracked heart, God shone His light and started the epic journey of restoration.

Do you know when your heart breaks? Do you really understand why your heart breaks with such incidents? Let us bring our cracked and shattered souls to God while living our mundane days. Let us be still when His light gets in through our cracks and touches our wounds for that place would be the place where we will know and understand what our deepest desire is.

Today’s Mission

1. 오늘의 단어인 ‘elicit'을 넣은 문장을 영작해주세요. 문장이 길지 않아도 되어요. 그리고 한 문장이어도 괜찮아요! Remember. This place is the place to make mistakes and errors!
2. Recite: 눈으로 읽는 것과 소리를 내어 읽는 과정의 차이. 분명히 있답니다! 그 차이, 꼭 느끼고 누려보세요. 오늘의 책 부분을 핸드폰 녹음기로 녹음하여 카톡창에 공유해보세요. 10일의 기간 동안 7회 이상 Recite 미션을 인증하시는 분들께 드릴 특별한 선물을 준비하고 있어요. :)