Calloused Heart

I briefly sat examining the hands which have seen a great deal of hard labor over the years. I touched and felt the ridges, cracks, hardness, desensitization, as well as the power and strength of the calloused hands.... and wondered exactly what harshness had they seen? What bumps, bruises, scrapes and pain had those hands experienced that brought them to the place of being able to see the visible effects?

Later I sat and contrasted my own hands with his. Hands that had not seen harshness, or much difficulty...hands that were soft, supple and undamaged by hard work. It was then that God taught me a spiritual lesson through tangible means. That though my callouses may not be as visible, they are just as real. And just as pronounced in some ways.

As I sit here typing, I recall many years ago when I had been hurt deeply and wounded greatly, in love. And I remember thinking that I never wanted to take another risk on love because it hurt so gloriously when it failed. But somehow (I didn't know then but I do now) I didn't allow those fears to hinder the thought that love could be true. That it was still possible.

My heart has been bumped, bruised, scraped, cut, bleeding, stepped on, crushed. It has seen great harshness and has wept bitterly but unlike the callouses on his hands, I'm not desensitized. My heart may still be fragile in some ways, but I still believe that all the pain, all the hurt was for a reason and that it's ok to still hope in love.

My heart knows a God who treats my wounds. He tenderly cleans them. He gently tends to my cuts, scrapes and brings healing. He loves me. And because He has shown me what true love looks like, I can begin to love Him and others as He loves me.

Lord, thank you for preventing my heart from hardening altogether. Thank you for keeping my heart soft enough to hope and for tearing away at any form of wall or barrier that has crept in over the years. Thank you for not allowing the callouses on my heart to prevent me from loving. Thank you for keeping me from being embittered. Father, where I fail in loving others as I should, please forgive me. Help me to love even those that aren't easy to love. The desire is there but I need your help.

And thank you for the spiritual revelation that you have given me, for the reminder that just like the hands that labor in various ways in the world...that each of us have been in painful places and our circumstances have caused callouses of the heart that you indeed, can heal.

Amen!