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Above all else...
Verse: Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the
wellspring of life.
Proverbs 4:23
Have you ever had those classes where you spend the whole class zoning out. You know you're teacher is talking, but all you're really doing is staring at their mouth moving, or your counting how many little dots are in the ceiling (If you'd like to see a video of me falling asleep in class then go to my facebook profile and check out videos of me). However, there are a set of words that will catch your attention in a split second. Can you guess what those words are? Whenever I would be zoning out in class I would immediately snap out of it when I heard: and this will be on our next test. You hear that and you have pencil/pen in hand ready to write down anything that slips from your teacher's mouth.
There is a book in the Bible written mostly for young men, but there are most definitely principles in this book that can be applied to women. The book of Proverbs is a collection of wisdom writings to the young men of the day, and at then end of Chapter 4 the writer starts laying out all these pieces of advice one after the other. He writes things like, "Put away perversity from your mouth...Fix your gaze directly before you...Do not swerve to the left or the right." However, before any of this the write says this: "Above all else..." It sounds like what he's about to write is going to be VERY important, and he says this:
Above all else, guard your heart,
for it is the wellspring of life.
Proverbs 4:23
We talked yesterday about being patient with love, and one of the reasons was because if we just jump into love without really counting the cost then we could be setting ourselves up to be broken pretty badly. The question now is: why is protecting our heart so important? The writer makes this clear, "...for it is the wellspring of life." Well, that makes the heart sound pretty important...but what does that mean? First you need to understand the writer is not speaking about our actual hearts. In Jewish culture the heart symbolizes the sum total of person's emotions, soul, and spirituality. In other words, the heart symbolizes everything about us: our personality, our tendencies, our likes and dislikes, who and what we love...EVERYTHING. Out of the heart flows what we commit too, what we invest in, who we invest in, and if we don't protect that we will probably end up hurt and broken. The writer of the Proverbs and God know how deeply we are affected by the things we give our heart too, and because of that we are asked to guard it. We are asked to not give it away freely but to prayerfully and patiently offer to those people and things that deserve it.
Show Me Something!
Verse: The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him. And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation." And he left them, got into the boat again, and went to the other side.
Mark 8:11-13
I am currently looking for a car (because my car is...well, a little under the weather), and just this last Saturday I made my first trip to a car dealership. I'm not sure how many of you have tried looking for a car, but in case you're unaware cars cost a good chunk of money. Because of this, everyone who buys a car wants to make sure their car is worth the money the care people are asking for it. So, car dealerships will allow you to "test drive" your possible future car. This principle applies to a lot of major purchases...it even applies to music. I know some of you out there like to "test drive" CD's before you buy them (if you ever buy them). As Americans (or just human beings) we like a "sign" to make sure we're getting what we're being promised. Now, this desire didn't just pop up when America came to be. Human beings, for as long as time, have desired assurance when they invest in something, and God knows this. In fact, in Psalms 138 God commands his people to help their children remember what He had done for them so they could be assured He is God and they never need to fear because He was going to take care of them. However, that "assurance" only went so far. There are countless stories in the Bible where God's people forget what God had done for them, and because of that fall into some pretty rough stuff (see pretty much the whole book of Genesis, Exodus, 1 & 2 Kings, etc.). When Jesus came around he did a LOT of really amazing stuff. In fact he did so many miraculous things that people were actually able to move passed Jesus' background and believe He was (and is) the Son of God. However, the Pharisees weren't buying it, and even after the countless signs he provided they still asked for a sign. Jesus knew their heart though, and refused to give them what they thought they needed. In fact, he was so disappointed in them that he walked away from them to somewhere else.
Last week I wrote about the importance of remembering. Do you remember (gosh I'm hilarious)? If you stopped to think about all the things God has done for you, I bet you were overwhelmed with how many things God has done for you; and even if you couldn't, the fact he died so you could be with Him forever is a pretty huge one. However, when things start to not go the way we planned them we immediately throw up our complaints, disappointment and anger towards God. I'm going to stop here, because what I just wrote might have struck some of you the wrong way. I am not saying we should never search and struggle with the things that happen to us. Our God can be a God of mystery, and he openly admits we aren't going to ever really understand Him. However, to point your finger at God every time things go a little of course and never trust Him reveals how we haven't really bought into God's goodness.
The mentality that God needs to prove himself to us over and over again when we're a little scared or anxious goes right against what God desires. So many of us want another "sign" from God so we can better trust Him, and all the while God has probably done more than enough to prove that He will provide. What God desires is our trust that He is going to take care of us. So, before you ask God for another sign, I encourage you to really think about (like I did last week) what God has already done.
P.S. God's grace is more than enough to cover over all our doubts. If you struggle with this, and you are in need of help God will provide. And if you happen to mess up in this area, remember God has already provided and you are free from your sin.
Remember
Verse: So early in the morning Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it.
Genesis 28:18