There is a fun piano duet
piece that just about every beginning piano student learns. It’s called “Heart
and Soul.” Most of these budding pianists have no idea that this composition actually has lyrics.
Heart and Soul, I fell in love
with you
Heart and Soul, the way a fool would do
Madly.
I often take the words of
love songs, and think about how they describe the love God has for me. And how
I should be loving him.
My heart and soul live in
harmony when they rest in his powerful love. But sometimes, my heart and soul
are not united. I should belong to God completely, but I'll find that I’m torn in two. That’s
when the misery starts.
When I'm sad, my heart cries
out in pain. My soul, belonging wholly to God, tries to balance this reaction
with encouraging perfect trust. I struggle between the two sides. I try to hold on to faith through the hard times, but it’s not
easy living with these opposing feelings.
Turns out I've got company. There
were two other guys who suffered with the heart and soul split.
My soul thirsts for God, the living
God. Psalm 42:2
King David knew his soul pined
for unity with the Lord. He describes that desire as thirst, a beautiful
comparison, easy to understand. So what’s getting in the way of his drinking
with gusto at the feet of the Lord? You guessed it. His heart.
King David fell in love with
someone else’s wife. We all know the story. In the end, he had his lover’s
husband killed. Yikes. A King, who
declared his unending thirst for God, buckled under the fracturing desires of
his heart.
I do not understand what I do. For what
I want to do I do not do, but what I hate, I do
Romans 7:15
We never find out what St
Paul struggled with; we don’t what split him in two. But it’s probably better
that way. We can all fill in that unknown with whatever we ‘hate’, but
still do. Maybe it’s laziness or anger…it could be any number of things. They
are the bugle call that starts the war with our souls.
Heart and Soul. King David,
St. Paul and me. At times, we all suffer the painful separation; the pulling in opposite
directions.
But I can take comfort in
the repeating cycles of reconciliation in the lives of these great men. God never gave up on them. He constantly called them back, wanting David and St. Paul to continue
working in the field. The Father never tired of renewing his grace.
The favors of Yahweh are not all past, his kindnesses are not exhausted; every morning they are renewed...
Lamentations 3:22-23
I know I can count on this daily rebirth of God's grace too. He will show
me how I can stop the war inside. Then, I can fall in love with him, heart and soul. Just like a fool would do. Madly.
Labels: Gods love, harmony, heart, soul