Guard Your Heart

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

Proverbs 4:23

The temptation to leap before you look permeates throughout our society. You see it in action movies, as they make it look glorious and heroic. Sitcoms make it look funny and endearing, and the love story chick flicks make it look alluringly romantic. But we need to be careful, take inventory, and proceed with caution. Jesus said, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy;..." John 10:10

Satan is a master deceiver and masquerades as light, love, and truth. Unless we choose to seek truth, research it, and study it purposefully, we may get sucked into an intoxicating vortex of deception. Oh, our intentions may be pure, but if we don't listen to the power of the Holy Spirit as He warns us, we will fall victim to the whims of the enemy. Satan will target our faith, our character, our hearts, minds, and even our good intentions to wreck God's plan for our life, all the while showing you exactly what you want to see, telling you what you want to hear, convincing you that it's God's hand AND he will use scripture to do it!

We all have natural desires that God has given us. These include the desire for acceptance, love, sex, food, and material possessions. These things are not bad in themselves; in fact, they are all good. And desiring something is not wrong. After all, the Psalmist writes, "Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart." (Psalm. 37:4) This thought is where we tend to go awry. We tend to stop reading right there. The idea is that if we delight or get happy in the Lord, we will give us what we want. But there is more to the passage, and the following verses are extremely telling and important. Take a look at verses 5-6.

"Commit your way to the LORD; trust in Him, and He will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him."

When we commit our way to the Lord, and we trust Him, He will make our righteousness shine. But, when we leap before we investigate the situation, we move impatiently towards that thing or goal that we want so badly, we take ourselves out of being still before the LORD and away from waiting patiently for him. That rash decision takes us headlong into a freefall that could have dire consequences. But praise God for the Holy Spirit who, if we allow Him, can put the breaks on for us and move us away from the danger zone.

Here are a few tips to help you stay on solid ground:

1. Never battle alone: Seek Godly counsel in all decisions concerning your heart and your desires. It was never God's intention for us to do life alone, so it's perfectly ok to discuss our options or seek Godly council with a good friend who can be objective and encourage you to step back and look at the situation a little longer.

2. Never make quick decisions: If you feel an urgency to make a quick decision, whether relational or financial, stop. If you are feeling pressured, that's a sure sign of manipulation. You see, God owns time, and He can stop time, slow it down, or speed it up. But here's the thing. Satan says, "you need to move right now!" He makes you feel like it has to be done now. Satan says, "you have to hurry!" He pushes us to make a quick decision based on emotion. But God always says, "Be still," "Be courageous," "Peace."

3. Be conscious and aware of the little things, both pros and cons: It's always a good idea to write down the pros and cons of rushed decisions. Do yourself a favor and take the time to write these things down. The act of writing slows our thinking and calms us. Seeing the problem on paper gives the urgency containment and allows us to see the logistics of the issue. If the issue is one where you believe God wants you to move, remember, God owns time. He can hold it, stop it, speed it up or slow it down to give you ample time to prepare.

4. Pray, pray and pray some more: There's an old saying, "anything worth having is worth waiting for." Praying allows us to slow down, breathe and be still. It's a way of calming that urgency. Lamentations says, "The LORD is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him." Seeking takes time and effort. And finally, we have an assurance that if we choose to wait on God and seek His face, He will renew our strength, and we will fly!

"But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint."

Isaiah 40:31