The heart is a vital muscle that contracts regularly, pumping blood to the body and the lungs. If I really stop and think about this process and how miraculous it really is, I am a little taken back. Here you have a muscle that works endlessly behind the scenes, on my behalf, beating and pumping and repeating its cycle to keep me alive day after day after day.
The heart also has the ability to fall prey to stress, periods of unrest, disease (both literally and figuratively) and trauma. Emotions come and go from this beating muscular organ and I sometimes "feel in my heart" that God is leading me down one path or another, which if lead by the Holy Spirit, is a very positive thing. Yet I also sometimes "feel in my heart" that I know what I need to make me happy, or make life better, or make life easier, and then petition God for the things because surely once x, y, or z is attained my heart will be at rest once and for all.
I was reading in I John a few days ago and came across verse 3:20 which says,
Then this is how we know we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence, whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
God is greater than our hearts.
Because God knows everything.
If I believe these two truths for what they are then suddenly I can experience peace and rest, regardless if He chooses to answer yes to what "I feel in my heart" is the best plan for my life in any given situation. I can be at peace and rest even if He gives me a no, or a not now. Because He is all powerful and all knowing and His way is greater than what my heart is feeling.
God is greater than our hearts.
Because God knows everything.
Like any other Biblical truth, applying this to my life is easier said than done some days, especially when pain is fresh, questions unanswered, or when confusion or sadness is at an all time high. But if I keep giving him my heart, little by little, eventually He will have the whole thing. And if He has the whole thing, and not just a portion, peace and rest will surely follow, regardless of where my journey leads. And to experience continual peace and rest in the midst of life's continual ups and downs? That right there is a pretty powerful promise. One that I want to fully embrace and claim as my own.
So this is what I am meditating on today, and tomorrow, and the next day. . .
Handing over my heart, piece by tiny piece, to the one who makes all things anew.
I love this. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI'm so thankful for this fact because my heart is stupid sometimes (ok, often) and leads me in the wrong direction! I would much prefer to follow God's leading than my own, although you wouldn't know it from how I act sometimes :) Thanks for sharing!
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