The Condition of Your Heart

 

What does the condition of your heart say about your circumstances?

   The journey from Egypt to the Promised Land should have only taken eleven days yet it took Moses 40 years to lead the Israelites there.  When my brain was able to wrap around the reason it gave me due pause.  It wasn't that the distance was so great, but instead it was the condition of the Israelites' hearts.  Why, you wonder?  It wasn't that God was so interested in the distance travelled, but HE was interested in their willingness to obey Him once they arrived.

     Fast forward to today. When we speak aloud we are praying/prophesying to the world.  What we speak aloud, becomes real, meaning it comes into existence.  If we say we are never going to lose weight, we won't, because we simply find ways to sabotage any efforts we might be making.  True that!  I'm doing it now! If someone says there's no use trying to break an addiction because it runs in their family, or it has always been that way, they are only making excuses not to try.  We also need to understand that we are only in control of ourselves and any blame we continue to cast on others is keeping us from what it is we want!

 

     Anything we pray about (speak aloud) must be spoken from a positive vein BUT and this is the part I truly feel we miss and what the Israelites missed, we also have to have the right heart.  We may pray for change, but in our hearts we still possess the anger, unforgiveness, the need to be right, or any other rationalizations that block us from reaching the "promise land" of our desires.  Do you get it, WE ARE BLOCKING  OURSELVES.  God is pro-good, not pro-choice.  Oh, He allows us choices, but that's where we get life gummed up! It is about God's Will for our lives and He promises us that everything will work toward good, even the bad stuff. He wants good stuff for us!  He is a generous God. The only way to be able to see this occur though is through the eyes of our hearts.  If our hearts are defective because of (a) condition(s), it is not receptive.

 

     Do you find your prayers seem to go unanswered? Recently a friend was having a tough time at work.  She would come home needing to vent daily about the conditions she found herself trying to work in.  People and technology were non-receptive and non-functioning.  Initially she had felt led to this job, and was confounded when all these obstacles started popping up.  She prayed, but things didn't seem to change.  Then, just the other night, she realized her anger was stopping her connection to God and she apologized to Him.  Within days of this apology, she was presented with a new opportunity and she accepted. It was amazing watching this unfold!  Miracles like this happen everyday, but if our hearts are defective, we can't see them!  Also, it doesn't always have to be about us, I enjoy watching others see miracles happen.

 

      Now, not to sound like I am qualifying this, but I do believe this needs to be understood.  Our prayers may not be answered immediately.  And in an instant gratification society, this is a hard pill to swallow.  God is in the mountain moving process, but WE are slow to make moves and just because WE are ready, does not mean that the other person(s) involved are in the position on their journey to move. Remember the 40 year trek that should have only taken 11 days? It wasn't just about one Israelite, it was about them collectively.  Everything in life is a process, a journey.  We are not alone in this world and we have to accommodate the others who cross our paths.  We can't exhibit road rage because someone is traveling at a slower pace than the one we want to.  I truly believe this happens and the reason I think so, is because we are so destination focused, we forget the beauty of the journey.  Yes, the final destination for some of us is heaven, but we have to die to get there, so what's the rush? What do we do in this waiting time?  Make sure our hearts are tuned up and turned on, that's what!

     Comparisons have a way of getting in the way of our enjoyment.  Thinking someone else has it better means we internally decide to spar in our hearts leading to damaging defects.  When people don't behave the way we think they should, we judge them to be inferior to our standards.  The thing is, we are not in the position to be both judge and jury, only God is.  Why can only God be the judge?  Because no one, and I do mean absolutely no one, knows everything about us.  We only share what we deem acceptable.  We love conditionally.  If that then we allow this.  Think this isn't true?  The next time you have an argument with someone, see what conditions you are focused on!  It is usually about your needs not being met in the manner you wish they were.  Hey, it may seem I'm pointing fingers, but in doing so, there are 3 fingers pointing back at me.  And just so you know I'm not above reproach, I've been feeling sorry for myself because I've been ambivalent about positive things happening for me.  Too often I fall back into a state of despair and blame it on my circumstance of my husband dying!  I am not trying to minimize that occurrence, but staying stuck isn't the answer either! Then too, I am aware of the miracles in my life, but when I compare them to the miracles in other's lives, I appear ungrateful when I say they don't measure up. Hmmmmm!

     Yes, we have rules or laws to govern society.  Yes, they are needed.  But when you go back to Moses leading the Israelites into the Promised Land, remember because of their hard heartedness they were stuck wandering around for 40 years.  They were bitter, they complained, they struck out on their own only to be subjected to plagues and death.  They set limitations because rather than trust in God they chose to be afraid, not only forgetting but negating the miracles God had already performed for them. (Parting the Red Sea amongst other things).  So, my challenge to anyone reading this, today, make up your mind to get beyond your own set of circumstances and ask that God shed the light on your heart to heal it and open it to be accepting to His call on your life. Otherwise, prepare yourselves to keep walking in circles.  Things won't change until you change YOU and YOUR attitude do.

Looking up!
Barb