NOT COMPLETELY HEALED
/“The Lord looks from heaven;
He sees all the sons of men;
From His dwelling place He looks out
On all the inhabitants of the earth,
He who fashions the hearts of them all,
He who understands all their works.”
Psalm 33:13-15
God fashions my heart. This phrase also means “their heart together.”
As a believer in the Lord who is my help and shield, God looks down from heaven in total control. He spoke all things and all people into existence, even those who never have or will believe in Him. He commands His creation and frustrates our plans when they do not line up with His plan.
As I read these verses today, I know God is in control. My heart doesn’t always work like I want, both physically and spiritually. Last night, I had another angina attack which I haven’t had in over a month. Definitely a praise! So, while I was believing that all was well and healed, my physical heart gave me a reminder that my body is not what I can trust in. Just as I was hoping that life could be “normal” again, I was thrown frustration in my plan.
There are times when my spiritual heart doesn’t work like I want it to, either. I am reminded of the words of Paul in Romans 7: “For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to, but I am doing the very thing I hate….but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members….Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.”
One of our pastors taught last Sunday that what comes out of our mouths is a direct reflection on what is in our hearts (Matthew 15:10-20). These are the things that defile us. He had us think about those times when life causes frustrations. One of those times is when we are driving. Ouch! When we believe someone is not driving how WE think they should, what is our reaction? Do we yell bad things? Do we wave a certain way? Do we lay on our horn thinking that will change them? Unfortunately, those other drivers really show us what is truly in our hearts. We don’t know them, so we can act how we really are and get away with it.
The Pharisees believed that people honored God by obeying rules which were defined by them even though their hearts were evil. How often do we act like the Pharisees believing that other people should obey our “rules?” Again, ouch! Do we demand that other people speak and act like we think they should? Oh, how very selfish and Pharisaical those thoughts are! Psalm 33 also says that “the Lord nullifies the counsel of the nations; He frustrates the plans of the people.”
When someone acts differently than I believe they should, how I react shows me what is truly in my heart. As I watched the new Top Gun movie, Maverick, a few days ago, one of the lines spoke to me. “It’s time to let it go.” It’s time for me to put away the things that Jesus said defile me—the evil in my heart that comes out when my expectations are not met.
My physical heart showed me that it is not completely healed.
My mouth shows me that my spiritual heart is not completely healed.
“Our soul waits for the Lord;
He is our help and our shield.
Four our heart rejoices in Him,
Because we trust in His holy names.
Let Your lovingkindness, O Lord, be upon us,
According as we have hoped in You.” Psalm 33:20-22
May I rejoice in the Lord and allow His lovingkindness to be upon me and my heart! May you also do the same so that the Lord can fashion our hearts together!