Kris Mares

My heart has been crying out a lot over the past year.  It’s crying out for so many things – people, situations, my family, our life.  Sometimes I have the words, sometimes I don’t.  Sometimes I laugh to share my heart with Jesus.  Sometimes I cry to share my heart with Jesus.  Sometimes I’m so far into the muck of life that I forget to share my heart with Jesus.

But sometimes, just sometimes, I feel the overwhelming sense that I’m on the right path.  I, along with others in my church and community, are reading the book Heart’s Cry by Jennifer Kennedy Dean.  God placed this book and I together for “such a time as this.”  As I struggle to make sense of the challenges my family faces, this book is helping me to sense the guiding and comfort of the Holy Spirit in my life. 

My go to verse lately has been Jeremiah 29:11 “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  This verse reminds me that God has good plans for my life.  He knows what He’s doing and where I’m going.  What this verse DOES NOT say is that the path will be easy.  It DOES NOT remind me that when I say Yes to God, He will make all things smooth and comfortable. 

Heart’s Cry is helping me to yield my spirit fully to the work of the Holy Spirit.  As my heart cries out to Jesus, what I really and truly want is for God’s Will to be done in my life.  I don’t say that for any other reason than this – what I want is what I want, not necessarily what God wants for me.  My heart cries out with what I want out of a situation, but really, I don’t know what is right.  I can’t see 6 weeks, 6 months, 6 years down the road.  God does and has always seen that path, that future.  So as I am being transformed into a beautiful silver that conducts the love and image of Christ, I am learning to allow the Holy Spirit to match the cry of my heart to the heart that God has designed just for me.

It ain’t easy, but I know that my Creator sees a much bigger and better plan for me than I do.  And I LOVE to plan…!