what just happened in your heart and mind . Where did your thoughts go ?”
She relaxed her hands , exhaled , and confessed that she ’ d spiraled into the ditch of anger , despair , and hopelessness . Together , we disentangled her thoughts from the lies she believed and helped her grab hold of the truths she needed . Then we prayed and asked our Father to intervene . My friend is a woman of God . And by the time we parted that day , her joy had returned , and her faith was fully engaged .
How do we discern when we ’ ve wandered off track ? It ’ s simple . Do our thoughts bring life and peace ( Romans 8:6 )? Or not ? It ’ s good to ask ourselves these questions each day , and sometimes several times a day :
What am I accepting , and what am I rejecting in my heart and mind ? And how are these choices affecting my perspective and faith at this moment ?
Scripture tells us to guard our hearts with the diligence of a prison guard on duty , fully alert and completely aware of his responsibilities ( Proverbs 4:23 ). Imagine the boundaries of your heart . Only truth belongs there — God ’ s truth that heals , reveals , guards , and guides . The lies will continually poke at you , trying to find an opening or a vulnerability . The lies will rob you of all God has for you .
Diligence calls us to keep the right things in and the wrong things out .
Far too often , we ’ re lackadaisical regarding the issues of our hearts . We allow insecurity to linger unchallenged . We open the door to fear . We continually rehearse thoughts that weaken us . We think nothing of holding grudges and making careless judgments . We have no idea how these poisonous roots choke the life right out of us . God forgive us .
Yet God , in His kindness , teaches us how to tend to our hearts in the middle of hardship and heartbreak . Though it ’ s tougher to stay hopeful amid suffering and expectant amid hardship , it ’ s what our souls need . That ’ s where spiritual heroes are made .
After God set the Israelites free from slavery in Egypt , they prolonged their journey through the wilderness — so much that the first generation never made it to their promised land . They coddled their fears more than they clung to the promises of God . Some would say that though their fears at first were understandable , those same fears eventually made them rebellious . They refused to believe God .
The people refused to enter the pleasant land , for they wouldn ’ t believe his promise to care for them . Instead , they grumbled in their tents and refused to obey the Lord .
Psalm 106:24 – 25 , emphasis added
God has a next place of promise for you . He ’ s committed to love and care for you . He calls you out of the smallness of your circumstances ( like the Israelites grumbling in their tents ) to behold the vast landscape of hope and life He ’ s prepared for you . God has also given you
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