Where is My Heart?
Lately the Lord's been working on getting to the heart issues behind a lot of the struggles in my life. He's doing it by revealing to me the adulterer I am . . .
"You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God." ~James 4:4
That verse always gets me. It makes me stop, and usually groan! Because for me, the idol that probably creeps in to the place God should have in my life most frequently, is a desire for the approval, affirmation, & acceptance of other people. Sound anything like being a friend of the world?
Yeah.....
Know what though? Living life with pleasing people as my motivation is exhausting and frustrating. Sure, I get those high moments. When someone notices I did a good job and points it out, when a friend or parent agrees that I made the right decision, or when someone who's usually annoyed gives me a genuine smile, I float. For a moment.
But the floating feeling doesn't last long. Have you noticed? People are a whole lot more prone to point out the bad than the good, and we disagree, A LOT. It's not always an unhealthy disagreement, but even agreeing to disagree can feel wrong when you're living with other's opinions of you as your god.
I'm learning it is actually okay to disagree.
I'm learning to be okay with not making people happy.
I'm learning I need to listen to a different voice.
The still small voice of the One who gave His life for mine gently calls out, "Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and delight yourself in abundance." ~Isaiah 55:2
He alone will satisfy. Anything else I allow to rule my life will leave me dry . . .thirsting and gasping, without the oxygen I need to survive.
Where am I running to for fulfillment? What puts a smile on my face? Proverbs warns us to watch diligently over our hearts because the springs of life flow from them (4:23 paraphrased). It's so true! And as I contemplate these things, the Lord has challenged me with this verse:
"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." ~Matthew 6:21
I want my heart in the Lord's hands. I know that there it will be loved perfectly and treated with the utmost of care. I know that from His hands come joy, peace, water, and every good gift.
But what am I treasuring? Am I treasuring the Lord? Is His name, even His memory, the desire of my soul (Is. 26:8)? Or have I placed my heart in another's hands?
Even the good gifts the Lord has given--my family and friends--even they can become worthless if I subtract the Giver from the gifts. In idolizing the things that are precious to me, I cause them to lose their value!
Sobering thought!
But straight out of Isaiah 44:9 "Those who fashion a graven image are all of them futile, and their precious things are of no profit . . ." The people of Israel took precious things: gold, silver, etc. and turned them into idols. And in doing so, they caused those precious things to lose their value.
Am I any different? When I look to others to fulfill me, do I cause people to lose their worth in my life? Oh to never forget that "every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow!" ~James 1:17
Relationships are a gift! And I am to treasure them for what they are, knowing they come straight from the hand of the Giver of LIFE! :)
"You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God." ~James 4:4
That verse always gets me. It makes me stop, and usually groan! Because for me, the idol that probably creeps in to the place God should have in my life most frequently, is a desire for the approval, affirmation, & acceptance of other people. Sound anything like being a friend of the world?
Yeah.....
Know what though? Living life with pleasing people as my motivation is exhausting and frustrating. Sure, I get those high moments. When someone notices I did a good job and points it out, when a friend or parent agrees that I made the right decision, or when someone who's usually annoyed gives me a genuine smile, I float. For a moment.
But the floating feeling doesn't last long. Have you noticed? People are a whole lot more prone to point out the bad than the good, and we disagree, A LOT. It's not always an unhealthy disagreement, but even agreeing to disagree can feel wrong when you're living with other's opinions of you as your god.
I'm learning it is actually okay to disagree.
I'm learning to be okay with not making people happy.
I'm learning I need to listen to a different voice.
The still small voice of the One who gave His life for mine gently calls out, "Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and delight yourself in abundance." ~Isaiah 55:2
He alone will satisfy. Anything else I allow to rule my life will leave me dry . . .thirsting and gasping, without the oxygen I need to survive.
Where am I running to for fulfillment? What puts a smile on my face? Proverbs warns us to watch diligently over our hearts because the springs of life flow from them (4:23 paraphrased). It's so true! And as I contemplate these things, the Lord has challenged me with this verse:
"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." ~Matthew 6:21
I want my heart in the Lord's hands. I know that there it will be loved perfectly and treated with the utmost of care. I know that from His hands come joy, peace, water, and every good gift.
But what am I treasuring? Am I treasuring the Lord? Is His name, even His memory, the desire of my soul (Is. 26:8)? Or have I placed my heart in another's hands?
Even the good gifts the Lord has given--my family and friends--even they can become worthless if I subtract the Giver from the gifts. In idolizing the things that are precious to me, I cause them to lose their value!
Sobering thought!
But straight out of Isaiah 44:9 "Those who fashion a graven image are all of them futile, and their precious things are of no profit . . ." The people of Israel took precious things: gold, silver, etc. and turned them into idols. And in doing so, they caused those precious things to lose their value.
Am I any different? When I look to others to fulfill me, do I cause people to lose their worth in my life? Oh to never forget that "every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow!" ~James 1:17
Relationships are a gift! And I am to treasure them for what they are, knowing they come straight from the hand of the Giver of LIFE! :)
Thank you for your honesty and the good reminder. I have had this verse sitting on my desk for a while and wanted to share it with you:
ReplyDelete"Return, O faithless Israel," declares the Lord, "I will not look upon you in anger. For I am gracious," declares the Lord, "I will not be angry forever. Only acknowledge your iniquity..." "Return, O faithless sons, for I am master over you, and I will take you one from a city and two from a family, and bring you to Zion. Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you on knowledge and understanding." (Jeremiah 3:12, 22)
Blessings on you!