I love old things.  I love driving through the country-side or around small towns and finding old, abandoned houses.  Something about them calls to me, making me imagine the laughter and tears, birthdays and every-days, the excitement and boredom that once filled those paint-peeled walls.

To many, old neighborhoods and rundown houses only represent disappointment and failure.  But to me, they are like treasure chests into a past, once so full of life.  I guess it is true that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.

It is so easy to see only the outside - the obvious - whether it is with houses or with people.  It is simple to focus only on the shortcomings and failures.  Even when our mistakes are small, sometimes they nag at us like a headache as we play them over and over in our mind.  If we had only done this, or hadn't done that.... 

I had a couple of days like that recently; I just kept beating myself up, wondering if I had done the right thing.  I felt the Spirit's leading to call a close Christian brother and ask what God had been showing him lately.  With a smile I could see even over the phone line, he paused and said, "No matter what error, what failure I make, God's grace is sufficient.  In my weakness, His strength is made perfect."  Then he paused again and sighed, "Isn't that beautiful!"

I wept as I realized again the love of my Creator and God.  Nothing can separate me from it!

This morning, as I stood on a benchmark where I often pray, praise and worship, joy and devotion poured from my lips and heart.  Then, for a split second, my mind wandered back to that moment of weakness and I thanked God again that He sees my heart first and foremost. 

As I sometimes slip and slide on this path He has put me on, I believe He knows that I'm going to stumble and fall at times.  And I think that His concern is not so much with my falling as with my choice to get up and persevere to the end.

Our Father knows that we can live a Kingdom life only by the empowerment of His Spirit.  He knows that we will be as Paul at times and "not practice or accomplish what I wish, but do the very thing that I loathe." (Romans 7:15)  Our wise and gracious Teacher purposely puts us in situations where we can only stand, we can only make progress, we can only survive by His hand.

So this being the case, it only makes sense that He is more concerned with our heart than our flesh.  His eyes peer through our outer garment, into the depths of us, searching the core.  What is our deepest desire?  What do we groan and ache for as we sit in the dark?  Where do our affections lie and what makes our heart leap?

Is it to see His glory manifesting in and through us?  Is it to see His name exalted and His character made known?  Is it to please only Him - to obey His every whisper?  This touches the heart of our Father.