The Discovery of the Heart

At first, Peter was a Galilean fisherman. He probably smelled terrible, had matted hair and language that was anything but chivalrous. But when Jesus gathered a collection of men upon whom to build his church, he chose Peter. He saw something in this rough around the edges man that one would likely miss on first glance. He saw passion.

Peter was one of the most extremely blessed people in all of history. He walked, talked, ate, lived with the God of the universe during his ministry on earth. Every day, Peter was exposed to radical conversation and intense opportunities for discipleship. He witnessed miracles and later in his life, through the power of Christ in him, worked his own miracles. He learned firsthand what a true life of faith looks like.

Peter was also one of the most impossible disciples. He was always speaking without thinking and coming up with these brilliant but kind of stupid ideas. When Christ saw his passion, he knew that this was the kind of man he needed to continue his legacy in a time when the gospel would be hated and feared and illegal. In Peter, he saw fearlessness and the potential to love so fiercely that he would lay down his life for the object of his devotion. Jesus saw that the desire of Peter’s heart would become first priority in his life. He chose Peter to become one of the men to keep the truth alive in his absence because of his passion.

Likely the son and grandson of a fisherman, Peter probably thought his entire life would be devoted to the fishing industry. When he imagined his death, he probably envisioned old age on a hard bed. Or perhaps beaten to death by monstrous waves on the sea of Galilee. Maybe even death at the edge of a Roman sword, Peter the revolutionary. Never the possibility that he would be suspended upside down on one of the most popular instruments of Roman torture, the cross, and all because he preached peace.

But Jesus’ invitation to follow him changed everything. With the touch of Christ, Peter’s heart changed.

Fast forward past the crucifixion, Peter’s denial, and the resurrection to the few precious days the disciples shared with Christ before he ascended into heaven. By this time, they had come to accept that Jesus had not come to overthrow the Roman government, but the principality and power of darkness. Jesus shared with them last bits of wisdom and built their confidence as leaders before he left them to carry on without his physical presence. He encouraged them, but as they stood on that hill, straining for one last glimpse of the man who had permanently changed their worldviews, their stomachs were probably in knots, the task ahead of them more than daunting.

As Jesus disappeared into the clouds, Peter discovered his passion for Christ and his desire to tell everyone he met about him. Peter’s God-given heartbeat very quickly led him into situation after situation where he was disliked and his message loathed. He was persecuted and imprisoned because of the longing of his heart to see the kingdom of Christ expanded on the earth. He had discovered his heart and, like Jesus knew when he asked Peter to follow him, he was not going to allow anything to stop the pursuit of his heart’s desire.

The Pursuit of Dreams

One of the most common questions that adults ask young children is the What do you want to be when you grow up? question. Answers range from nurse and police officer to superhero and President. My high school English teacher wanted to be a firetruck. Later in life, the question changes slightly to the What are your plans for the future? question. College, career, travels, a family. Human beings dream. They love to talk about their deepest longings and hopes.

Dreams are what make us. Astronauts do not orbit the earth because they one day wake up and decide to shoot off into space. They pursue the dream of space-travel passionately. They study for years, they train intensely all the while envisioning that moment when they will peer out of a small window in the spacecraft and behold the planet Earth for themselves. They pour all their spirit into their dream job.

In the same way, most job discontentment is a result of settling for less than the dream (though the fact that one is pushing paper instead of playing pro basketball is hardly an excuse for poor performance). Movies get made all the time about people who finally break free and pursue their dreams passionately. Those movies inspire and make one entertain the possibility of doing the same.

Can you imagine then, what dreams could become if placed without reserve into the hands of the Creator of imagination? When touched by God, dreams become pure and unadulturated. They become glowing beacons of hope. They become the passion of a person living in the power of God. God-breathed dreams change ordinary people into saints.

Moses grew up watching his people suffer under the cruel slavery inflicted by his adoptive grandfather the Pharoah. God planted a dream in Moses to see his people set free. He fought the role God had planned for him to make the dream reality, but when he finally allowed the power of God to become the working part of his dream, the extraordinary occurred. God showed his glory again and again and Moses became the man to lead his people out of bondage and toward the freedom of the promised land.

Admittedly, God’s way of making dreams come true takes us out of our box. We may be anything but comfortable but he promises never to leave or forsake his children. Doubtless, Moses did not envision wandering around the wilderness and dealing with the complaints of the Israelites when the first inkling of desire to see the Hebrews set free flitted across his mind. Doubtless, Mother Theresa did not envision living among the stench and disease of the lowest caste in India when she decided to pursue her dream of serving others in the name of Jesus. Despite the hardships they faced when they gave their dreams up to the power of Christ, these two ordinary people walked very closely with God, their hand in his. They will be remembered for all time as true heroes of faith, common people who became intimate friends of God.

The inspiration for this post came from a conversation I had at breakfast yesterday with two dear friends of mine. One of them has been been fostering a dream for several years and has been actively pursuing and preparing for the dream to become a reality. At this point, however, she is unsure whether or not that will happen. But she did say that so many good things have come from her pursuit of this dream, that she will always be blessed by it. In her words, God sometimes uses a dream to “get the ball rolling,” to lead us on a path that will draw us into his dream for us. Although her dream may not come to pass exactly as she had scripted, she is aware of the absolute necessity to go with God’s script as she makes these difficult decisions.

Dreams that begin with longing for God take us deeper into his heart, and there we discover ours.