The heart of the matter...

Life can be hard on the heart. The world is full of outside influences that have the power to disrupt the rhythm of your heart. Most are subtle. Some may even appear to be necessary as protection from further disruptions. Over time you may develop habits that slowly erode your heart's sensitivity. The inevitable pain and disappointment of life have caused you to set up walls around your heart. Much of this is understandable. But at the end of the day, there's no way around the truth: Your heart is out of sync with the rhythm it was created to maintain. These disrupters that throw your heart out of sync do not work their way out on their own, without any effort on my part. Thopse things that disrupt the rhythms of the invisible heart linger. If left alone, some linger for a lifetime. After a while, we come to accept these disrupters as part of us, part of our personality. And so we catch ourselves saying, "That's just the way I am." But you weren't always that way.  So let me ask you...how are things with your heart??

- from "Ememies of the Heart" by Andy Stanley

Well...I have 3 books on my reading pile at the moment, and this happens to be one of them.  The title caught my eye, as Proverbs 4:23 is my absolute favorite verse (guard your heart with all diligence, for out of it flows the issues of life).  I believe that verse is true with all of my...heart. :)

When I was younger, I dealt with asthma and heart palpitations, irregular heartbeat.  My mom took me the doctor and after tests were ran, they told us that one of the valves in my heart was too long.  Sometimes it got "caught up" and caused an irregular heartbeat, causing shortness of breath.  So I deal with the medical condition, mitral valve prolapse, and a heart murmur.  No big deal, just a little extra precaution.

I started thinking about this when I started reading this book.  The outside influences that we all deal with have the power to affect the inside.  The outside circumstances, conflicts, etc.  create pressure on us, on our hearts.  And what is inside will come out.  What is in us is greater than the pressure on the outside.  Greater is HE.  He is making us stronger, bolder, so that we will show His heart through ours.

When I overdo it, I know it.  I have to sit, rest, take deep breaths, and I feel my heart slip back into rhythm.  It takes a bit, but I am brought back into rhythm.  He is the one that brings us back into rhythm with Him.  Sometimes we must force ourselves to stop...and to sit at His feet, stay a while, get lost in the moment with Him.  He refreshes us, and we can go forward, heart guarded and eyes on Him.

The disappointments won't stop.  The pain won't stop coming.  The enemy will not leave us alone.  But we are stronger, wiser, and guarded.  And moving forward, ready for what's next.

Christa  <3