With All Our Hearts

 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.  (Proverbs 3:5-6)

 

          I’ve told the story before. I said to God, “I don’t understand!”

          He answered, “That’s OK, you don’t have to.”

          To which I replied, “No. You don’t understand. I don’t understand.”

          I’m not sure which of us rolled our eyes first on that one. But the truth of the matter is that it’s not about not understanding. It’s about not approving. It’s about not being in control.

          I’ve also written before about the heart being the will. I have a friend who grew up with cats. She says that to a cat, “no” means “approach from another direction.” There are athletes and artists who spend hundreds and thousands of hours practicing the basics of their sport or art. Consider your hobbies, interests, skills, and interests. How much time have you spent? How much money? How much energy? How many mistakes have you made, and how often have you had to go back to the basics?

          I’ve told the story of my understanding of the Yuck Phase before, too. When I work on a craft, art, or decorating project, it doesn’t take long after I get started that I think, “Yuck! It’s not working. I’ve made too many mistakes. It’s going to be hideous. Why did I waste the money? Why am I wasting my time? I’m such a failure.” I’ve learned to persevere through the Yuck Phase because I’ve learned that when I get done with whatever it was, I’m usually satisfied.

          Is that how we trust?

          For some people, the heart has to do with emotions. Do you trust the Lord with all your emotions? Do you trust Him in all your emotions? Do you trust God when you’re happy? Angry? Afraid? Bored? Lonely? In love? Sad? Depressed? Comfortable? Hurt? Jealous? Overwhelmed?

          How much time, energy, or money do you spend on your trust? This afternoon, I skimmed through an article about an octopus some scientists found that spent more than four years guarding its clutch of eggs. They tried to entice it to eat, but it wouldn’t. After four years of checking on it, the octopus was gone and all that was left what the egg casings. They believe the eggs hatched but that the octopus starved to death in the process of brooding the eggs.

          If our trust in God is to be with all our heart, this is an excellent example of what it means. Are we willing to brood over our trust? To guard it and nurture it even if doing so means that we slowly starve to death? I’m not saying that we will have to starve in any way – but what lengths are we willing to go to strengthen our trust in the Lord, so that we can do it with all our hearts?

          So, my challenge in the next week is to ask God to reveal to me something specific that He wants me to trust Him for or with. Something that will allow me to practice trusting.