Keeping The Heart

Psalms 27:14

NKJV

Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!

How do you hold up when the trials press down? When strength wavers, and our hearts droop, what do we look to for refreshment? Recently I've been blessed to have endured a trial that the Lord used to chasten my heart. God has shown Himself to be a jealous God (Nahum 1:2) and will not allow His children to hew out broken cisterns when He has an overflowing fountain available for them. I'm thankful for the ways and works by which God directs our affections to Himself, firmly, but also gently.

Many of us can relate to drinking drips from the broken vessels of this world. We all know what our flesh reaches out for to gain strength, comfort, relief or healing. Even more so we know how they never satisfy. This week I've been shown where true sustenance lies, in a way that I can proclaim that I've tasted and seen that the Lord is good. The Lord had allowed sickness to come upon me, and while for many reasons, one stuck out the most, and that is why I've chosen this verse. Throughout the entire time I was sick, the Holy Spirit had this verse ringing in my ears. I can confidently say that man does not only live by bread alone but by every word which proceeds from the mouth of God. Gods Word gave me the strength I needed to press on through the trial, and come out the other side in closer communion with Him. There is something so wonderful about the dark days and how the light shines so brightly for us. We can truly understand when the Psalmist writes that “even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me,” it is a reality for us.

The most difficult thing was not the sickness, but maintaining my mind and hearts posture towards the Lord through it. It's so easy to fall into wrong thoughts about God and ourselves, and so hard to say “Bless the Lord!” Job gives a wonderful example of suffering to us, how he didn't lose faith in his God even though he lost everything else. He could not be brought to curse God because of his circumstances, and so the Lord desires of us that same heart. Those moments where there is no way out but waiting are crucial for us to maintain our hearts, to keep the loins of minds girded up. Once even the smallest foothold is given to Satan through the thoughts he sneaks in, he creeps in deeper and deeper and we find ourselves trapped in our own minds. Every thought must be taken into captivity under the name of Jesus. Otherwise, we are an open target, fresh bait just waiting defenseless for any work of darkness to make us it's slave. Check your heart when you're in the trial, ask the Lord for Scripture to lean upon, and don't let a single thought take root without it first being taken into the captivity of Christ.