God designed your heart to break. Is it a design flaw?
Find out from a butterfly's point of view . . .

I wonder if a butterfly knows how beautiful it is. Is it aware
how incredible the designs are that it carries on its wings?
 I don’t think so. And, similarly, we may not realize or see our
 own beauty, value, or worth unless someone tells us and
reminds us of our beautiful design, or unless God Himself
gives us a fresh revelation of its exquisiteness. I’m glad
someone told me thirty years ago, and I’m grateful for the
people in my life, who’ve faithfully reminded me of
God’s perspective of my heart from His point of view.
Most of all, I’m grateful for the Lord’s persistent and patient reaffirmation of who I am in Him, and the beauty of my
heart, because of the cross. Without Him,
I’d still feel ugly inside.

Before I came to know the Lord, I’d always struggled with
my own sense of value and worth. Even as a child, I never felt beautiful, and that carried into high school. I was skinny and
freckled on the outside, and felt just as ugly on the inside. I
became an introvert, and never wanted to be noticed. Tossed
around from home-to-home, in and out of foster care, there
was a time I felt that I was too ugly to love, and
because of that, I was unable to love. But God knew better.

If you ever have the chance to see the underside of a
butterfly’s wings, the part you view as it sits with its wings
 closed, you might be surprised to find that they’re drab and
dull in color. That was me. I sat with my wings closed, hoping to camouflage myself from further pain and hurt, just as a butterfly blending into a bush or tree to hide from predators. It’s only
when the wings open, that it’s brilliant color and iridescent
 hues can be observed. But wow. How could I open them
when I was afraid to fly? If I showed my true colors, what
would people think? What would they see, a beautiful butterfly,
 or an ugly moth? I still struggle with that now, but the difference between then and now is, I know who I am, in Him and because
of who He is, I’m not afraid to show my colors, because they are
His colors—every shimmery promise in a rainbow of iridescent
 hues glisten in all of my encounters and in every situation.
 They truly are His colors. Do you know that a butterfly’s
wings are actually clear and not colored at all? The colors
 are a result of the way light reflects from the pigment on the
 underside of tiny scales that cover the wings. When God’s
light shines through my heart, only then are colors seen. If I’m
not right with Him, others won’t see His glorious, colorful
beauty through my own heart.

God created our hearts beautiful and fragile like a butterfly’s
 wings, and He also created them strong enough to soar
 through life’s heartache and sorrow, however, we can’t fly
 without Him. We can’t love ourselves without Him. We can’t
 love others without Him. We can’t overcome without Him.

A butterfly cannot fly without sunshine. When at rest, they
bask and position their wings at a right angle to the incoming
 rays of sunlight. The warmth from basking transfers to its thoracic flight muscle, thus enabling it to fly. And that’s the only
way we can love, overcome, and draw closer to Him, by
basking in the warmth of His love, through the pursuit of
 His own heart. In doing so, we soar, and are able to overcome,
 but even more importantly, our hearts become colored with His colors—noticeable, for all to see, and we suddenly find
ourselves with His patina all over us—shining examples
 of His love, mercy, and lovingkindness.

God’s been speaking to me a lot lately about the heart. And
 I’d like to share with you more that He’s revealed to me. I
hope it speaks to you. On that day of creation, when He
 created your heart, He created it just like His! He didn’t
share His heart; He gave you His heart. From the moment
He breathed life into you, it was His Spirit that entered into
your heart, and therefore, His heart, in you. And it was a
 perfect heart; void of pain, sorrow, and heartache. He
created it with an infinite capacity to love. He designed
it soft and supple, easily malleable to receive all of
His goodness. Every star, every flower, every blade of
grass, and ultimately, every fleck of dust and sand He
 created, for the purpose of creating you. And all the while
He did so, His thoughts of you were more in number than the
sand (Ps. 139:18) He used to form us. When He breathed
life into you, it set the cadence of you own heartbeat in
 tune with His precious one. The moment He fathomed you,
 the love in His heart overflowed and became infinite
 for you. Yes, He fashioned you from His infinite love.

Do you know that His heart is breakable? That means that
yours is too, but it’s not a design flaw. His heart breaks for
 the hurting, the oppressed, the sick, the leper, the diseased,
the orphan, the widow, the abused, the blind, the captive,
 and the dying, and that’s why He sent His son, because His
 heart broke for mankind and He wanted to save us from death.
 He created your heart to break too. It’s how He created it,
 though not for the purpose of hurting you, but for the purpose
 of burdening you for the lost, just as His heart burdened for
 you. The laborers are few, and time is short, and He
needs you to break for the hurting.

Are you wondering if your heart is big enough? Your heart
has the capability of being as big as His. The more love it holds,
 the greater its capacity. It swells, and the more of Him you
 put in it, the bigger it gets. When you give of His love to others,
to the captive, to the unlovable, He not only replenishes the love, you're your heart stretches and grows to receive even more
from Him for others. However, if that love doesn’t break free,
or spill over, the heart shrinks, and you feel full and satisfied
with little and there’s no room for God to fill it. It remains
at the same level, or less.

Then, the enemy tries to plunder what’s inside. He attempts
 to make the sweet honey of God’s love sour, to harden
 its tenderness, and reduce its capacity. Sometimes we let
 him, and at other times, we’re unaware we’re allowing
 him to do so. We worry and fret, and become too busy,
and the measure of love in our heart dwindles as the enemy
saps our stores. But if it’s full of God, there’s no room for
 anything else. When the enemy steals or destroys, we’re
to seek to refill and restore our hearts with more of God.
 He tells me that our hearts are infinitesimally stretchable!
That our heart’s capacity to love is infinite, just like His!
 When we walk with Him, and pursue His heart, His
 presence, His friendship, our own hearts will fill to
overflowing. His infinite love will continuously refill our hearts,
 so let it overflow! Let it be broken, let it leak, let it weep for the lost—for the captive because His love is infinite, because the
 supply is endless, and because your heart has been
created to contain an immeasurable amount of His infinite love.
Yes, He fathomed and fashioned you from His infinite love. He designed it to be broken. He will restore that which is lost at
the hands of the enemy, and your brokenness for the lost will
be rewarded with the sweet, liquid honey of His love and
nearness. The love He’s already poured into your heart is
 enough for the harvest. His love is uncontainable, and
 as big as you’ll allow Him to stretch your heart, know
that He will fill it. He’ll fill it for the masses, for the
 multitudes, for your neighbor, your enemies, your
children, your city, your church, your workplace. He’ll fil
l it for the ugly, the outcast, and the leper. He wants you to
 share His burden, His brokenness for the dying, for
 your neighbor, and those in need, for when you do,
you’ll truly know His heart.

If it doesn’t feel full, it’s because you haven’t pursued Him.
Butterflies often congregate along streams and rivers to
drink water, and extract minerals from the mud and the
water. They nourish themselves for their next flight. How
well are you nourished? Have you filled yourself up with
God? Have you come to the Source of all of your supply
to drink of His cleansing stream? Are you basking in
the warmth of His love? Butterflies gain strength from
 the sun. Have you positioned yourself under the
warming ray of His presence?

Dear ones, He loves you, and He loves your heart too, and
He wants to fill it to overflowing with Himself, not only for
 you, but for the captive, too; for those the enemy has
 plundered. Yes, it’s design is perfect, delicate, fragile, but
strong too. But first, in order to receive all that He has for
you for others, you have to see the beauty of your own heart,
 through His eyes, and through His heart. When you do
 see and know His heart through the eyes of your own,
 you’ll truly grasp the meaning of His infinitesimal,
 unconditional, and incredible love, and then your soul
 too, will travail for the lost, and through you, His colors
 will shimmer with His glorious brilliance, and multitudes
 more will one day also meet our precious
Lord and Savior in the clouds.


(Shae) Cooke
A Writer for All Reasons and Seasons
shaesyc@telus.net
Copyrighted. All rights reserved.