Taking the Guesswork out of Big (and Small) Decisions

“Follow your heart.” – 21st Century Cliché

“The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.” – Jeremiah 17:9

I couldn’t help myself. When I read the familiar advice written by a sweet, well-meaning young blogger, I had to respond. If I weren’t retired, I wouldn’t have taken the time. But having the luxury of a daily schedule that moves at a slower pace, I seized the opportunity to “sow some seeds” into this young person, who seemed almost as naive as I had been at that age.

I commented:

“If you can tolerate another perspective from someone who has seen 72 years of life and has “gone with my heart” more than once …

“You’re right, if we do that, maybe it’ll turn out well, maybe not – maybe it’ll be disastrous! (Please don’t ask me how I know!)

“Truth is, ‘The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.’ (Jeremiah 17:9) That’s just one of thousands of nuggets of truth found in the Bible, a.k.a. ‘God’s Word.’ Another is, ‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding [or gut!]. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and HE will direct your path.’ (Proverbs 3:5-6)

“The more I study the Scriptures, the more I understand the mind of God, the better I can make these ‘leaps’ according to what God wants and KNOW I am making the right choice. (And the fewer disasters and regrets.) If I had known at your age what I know now, my life would be even better today, and today it’s pretty great! Because when a decision is to be made, I stop and ask, ‘What does God’s Word say about this?’ If I act accordingly, I see the outcome, sometimes something I never would have planned myself.

“…I’m guessing you weren’t looking to be discipled on a random September morning, but there it is. 

 “May God bless you and give you wisdom beyond your years. ❤ “

In closing, I want to share the prayer I pray every day as I give the Lord my heart and “put on the breastplate of righteousness”:

Lord, today I give You my heart. I give You my emotions, my passions, my desires, my affections, my will, my motives, and my attitude. Please remove every shred of selfishness – for self is the root cause of every sin in existence. Fill my heart instead until I overflow with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. *

Lord, I thank You for emotions that confirm the Truth. But I recognize that Your Truth stands on its own and needs no confirmation from me or anyone else. I thank You for emotions that motivate me to serve You. And I thank You that I can choose to serve You, whether I feel like it or not.

Thank You that my emotions don’t define me, and they don’t get to dictate what I say, do, focus on, believe, or choose. Jesus, I choose You. You are my sovereign, my king – not my emotions. You are my Master, my Boss, my Lord and my God.

Jesus, thank You for being my Savior, my Redeemer, the Atoning Sacrifice for my sins. (I am not my own; I was bought with a price.**) Thank You for being my Shepherd, my Provider, my Protector, my Defender, my Healer, and the Lover of my soul. You are my First Love. Let it never be said by anyone, especially not You, that I have left my First Love.***

Lord, I delight in You; give me the desires of my heart.**** Instill in me the desires You want me to have, the desires You want to fulfill in my life, so that I can live in the center of Your will.

Lord, I desire to know You and to make You known. I desire to know You intimately – to see Your face and hear Your voice, to feel Your embrace and have my heart beat in sync with Yours. Give me a heart like Yours, even if that means my heart will be broken by the things that break Your heart.

I want to smell Your fragrance, to be surrounded by it, enveloped in it, and saturated in it. Make me “the aroma of Christ” – the aroma of life to those who are being saved, even if that means being the stench of death to those who are perishing.***** Jesus, I realize that if I follow You, and if I’m doing it right, I will become like You, and the more I become like You, the more I will be hated by those who hate You, and I have to be okay with that. I only pray that when I am despised, it’s not because I am a despicable person with a despicable attitude, doing despicable things for despicable reasons. But if I am despised and rejected by those who despise and reject You, and if it’s because I am like You, I can wear their rejection like a badge of honor, because it identifies me with You.

And I want to be identified with You. I want to be in You and I want You to be in me. I want to be in the center of Your will, not playing around the edges. I want to walk with You, not running ahead and taking the wrong path, not dragging my feet and slowing down Your plan, and not wandering down any rabbit trails, making messes, and wasting time. I want to walk with You, run with You, make You smile – I want to make You laugh with pleasure! I want to be the child that delights You, not a child that grieves, frustrates, or embarrasses You.

Jesus, thank You for doing everything necessary to make me that child, for dying on the cross so my sins could be done away with and Your righteousness imputed to me. Teach me to translate that imputed righteousness into a righteous life and wear it over my heart like a breastplate,****** so the enemy can never penetrate my heart ever again! This is how I set my heart at rest in Your presence, whenever my heart condemns me. For You are greater than my heart, and You know everything. ******* In Jesus’ name.

(AMEN.)

*Galatians 5:22 ** I Corinthians 6:19-20 ***Revelation 2:4

****Psalm 37:4 *****II Corinthians 2:15-16 ******Ephesians 6:14

*******I John 3:19-20