Our hearts are fragile. We give our hearts away to many people and to many things. Did you know that your heart filters every single moment of your life? In Proverbs 4:23, it states, “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.” Our hearts were intended to be given to God alone because He is the one who created us. He knows our hearts even before the earth began. It does not matter what we look like on the outside, He only cares what is flowing in and from our hearts (1 Samuel 16:17).
Trust God
What does it look like to trust God to take care of your heart? Well, according to Strong’s Hebrew, it says that the Hebrew meaning of “trust” is to be confident or sure. Do you remember the times when you were confident in life? I know that there were times that I was not. I used to do karate, and when I first began, I was horrible. But as I grew in confidence in what I was practicing, I knew that I was sure that I would pass all the tests to move onto the next belt.
So, what does the Bible say about confidence? Let’s take a look at a few verses:
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16).
So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:6).
We have this kind of confidence toward God through Christ. It is not that we are competent in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our competence is from God. He has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit produces life (2 Corinthians 3:4-6).
Lean on God
How much do you lean on your family, friends, and even yourself? When we lean on everyone and everything else besides God, we are being disobedient. We are saying, “Hey God, I am not going to trust and lean on you today because I know I got this.” But do you really have it all under your control?
In Isaiah 40:28-29, it states, “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; is understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.”
Do you realize how powerful and strong God is? He created you. All of you. So why would you want to take on all of the weight and circumstances of life? God wants you to give Him your burdens (Matthew 11:28).
Seek God
“Seek his will in all you do, and he will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:6). When you were a child, you may have played a game called “hide and seek.” The objective of the game is to not be found by the seeker. If there are multiple hiders, then the last person to be found wins the game. What if what you are hiding from God is preventing you from being found by Him.
In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve hid from God because they were ashamed of what they had done. They were naked, without clothing to hide their newly found guilt and shame. But God knew where they were all along (Genesis 3:6-10). They were afraid. Fear had entered their hearts because of the fall. The serpent entered their hearts as soon as they ate the forbidden fruit.
The fear, as well as many other factors, like shame, became more dominant than seeking God. Wouldn't it be interesting if we sought God before we gave into the temptations of our hearts? How should we seek God first so that He can show us which path to take?
You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart (Jeremiah 29:13).
The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God (Psalm 14:2).
Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon (Isaiah 55:6-7).
You have said, “Seek my face.” My heart says to you, “Your face, Lord, do I seek” (Psalm 27:8).
What Does This Mean?
God tenderly cares for you and knows your heart. He understands that the things that you try to hide from Him are hard to give over to Him. Trusting God, whom you cannot see, may feel like a risk. You give your heart over to people who may not know how to take care of it as God does. All of the hurt, the pain, and the voided parts of your heart are being exposed. You get up and try again to give your heart away to someone you trust, but people destroy it over and over.
The enemy loves to discourage you and trick you into thinking that God cannot be trusted with your heart. But do not be deceived as it says in God's word that He gave His only Son Jesus Christ to save you (John 3:16). If God did that for you, then you can trust Him completely with your heart.
©Unsplash/Bart LaRue
Rebecca Mashburn (Gordon) has a wonderful husband named Joseph. She has a blog, Trust. Lean, Seek and is working on becoming what God is calling her to. She has a bachelor's in psychology and hopes to one day pursue a degree in biblical counseling. Rebecca loves to be in nature, especially in springtime, and she loves to travel. She has a loving family and hopes one day to have children of her own.
