How much can the human heart be trusted to steer us correctly in life? If you're like me, you have heard a lot of people use phrases like, "Follow your heart," or "Listen to your feelings." On the other hand, I have also heard many wise Christians use the opposite advice, reminding us that, The heart is deceitful...and desperately wicked... (Jeremiah 17:9). The Apostle Paul himself reminds us that, For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. (Romans 7:18). In our sinful nature, we are unable to do rightly, decide rightly, or please God. Does this mean that we are to squelch every inclination we have and just force ourselves to do things we have no heart for? Some would say yes. One dear friend of mine used to really struggle with this, and felt that making decisions was basically surrendering to do the exact opposite of her heart's desires, and that must be God's will, since it made her miserable. She was very sincere, but, I will venture, very mistaken (and she knows this now, having grown in her own walk with the Lord).
We need to examine a few things. In this post, I'll be looking at 1) How God leads and directs our lives, 2) the difference between heat-of-the-moment feelings and a true heart's desire, and 3) the way Christians in the Spirit are different from those in the flesh, or unbelievers.
How God Leads and Directs Our Lives
I remember once, I was offered a ministry position in a different city than I was serving in at that time. The idea of leaving where I was at, and going to this other city really didn't appeal to me just then. The way I sensed God leading me just didn't fit with this opportunity, so I turned it down. When I did, though, I made the mistake of using the phrase, "I don't feel led to that right now." The person making the offer quickly seized on this and said, "You can't go by your feelings, honey." Was she right, or was I? Did God mean for me to take up this offer, simply because to do so was to deny my feelings, and feelings were allegedly bad? How does God lead us?
If you've followed me for any length of time, you know that I hold that the Bible is the inerrant, inspired word of God, and is our final authority. Anything you think you are led to do must align with what God has said in His Word. If I feel led to shoplift, I can know right off the bat that it isn't God's will, because God has said in His Word, Thou shalt not steal. (Exodus 20:15).
Not only does the truth in God's word direct us on what is and isn't right, but the Author of the Bible lives in all believers, and He illuminates scriptures for us. Have you ever had a time when you were reading the Bible, and a verse you'd read a hundred times suddenly jumped out at you in a new way, giving you a sense of knowledge of what you were supposed to do in a situation you were facing? I have! That is how the Holy Spirit uses the Bible in our lives, and that also brings me to the next point on this--the Holy Spirit indwells believers, giving us guidance in our hearts. Isaiah 30:21 says, Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” Whenever you turn to the right hand Or whenever you turn to the left. Jesus told the disciples that the Holy Spirit would guide believers into all truth (John 16:13). The Holy Spirit and the Word of God will guide you into what you are to do. God wants to enable you to know and do His will! The Holy Spirit also guides you in your prayer life. As you pray and see answers, that can also be a source of guidance.
God also uses fellow believers and circumstances happening in your life to guide your steps. When all of these things line up--what God is saying to you in the Bible, the inner testimony of the Holy Spirit, the way He is guiding and answering your prayers, what other Christians in your life are telling you, and the way things seem to be orchestrated--you can often very easily tell what God's will is. Bottom line, though, if you are saved, the Lord knows how to reach you and communicate with you. You will hear Him if you truly want to.
Funny story. I read a book many years ago about hearing God's voice. The author of this book tried to list every way God could speak to a Christian. They really got into the nitty-gritty. One of the ways they had listed was billboards! They said that sometimes, billboards have verses on them, and someone the author knew was driving along, and a billboard had a verse that spoke right to their need and gave them the answer they were praying for. To this, I say, praise the Lord! But I think trying to list every conceivable way God could speak to you is going to be endless if you're going to get that specific. You'd also have to list T-shirts, because you can meet someone wearing a T-shirt with a verse on it, or bumper stickers on cars in front of you on the road, because bumper stickers can have verses on them. 99.99% of the time, a billboard isn't going to tell you God's plan for your life--but as with the case of Balaam's donkey, God can use anything!
Heat of the Moment Feelings vs. True Heart's Desire
Feelings are very real. It was important to God that we have them--evidenced by the fact that He gave them to us! They are part of reality, but they are not the lens by which we are supposed to judge reality. In short, feelings are not bad! God made all things well, and He made our emotions. Even unpleasant emotions are not bad. Like most things, it's what you do with them. There have been moments where I felt so enraged toward someone. That wasn't sinful. Ephesians 4:26 says, Be angry and do not sin... This leads us to conclude that anger itself is not a sin. But we are not to indulge our anger, or other emotions. Jesus called us to deny ourselves, take up our crosses, and follow Him (Matthew 16:24). Our emotions might change from moment to moment. A lot can factor into what we're feeling, including what you ate, your health, if you are tired, or any other number of possibilities. It is never wise to follow our emotions or let them control us. But these feelings are real, and the best way to manage them is by acknowledging them, and giving them to God, and letting Him bring healing where needed. You can even use your emotions to produce something beautiful, instead of letting them use you to produce something ugly. I do my best writing when I feel something very strongly. But I also do my worst behavior toward others if I'm not careful!
God cares about how you feel. Psalm 56:8 comforts us with these words: You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book? God ministers to us in our sorrows and hurts, and He communes with us in our happiness and triumphs. My mother used to tell me that, every time you cried, God sent an angel to give you a hug. I don't know whether this is true or not, but it is a lovely thought, and it does reflect the compassion of God described in scripture.
Unlike passing emotions, there are heart's desires that I believe are God-given. They can affect one's emotions. They can go hand-in-hand with what someone is feeling, but they're so much deeper. They become a part of who that person is--an extension of himself. I believe Hannah expressed those heart's desires in First Samuel 1:10-12. It's something deep in your heart that won't let go. It isn't just wanting something. I want a 2022 Lincoln Corsair! But that isn't a deep heart's desire for me. I haven't longed, hungered, thirsted, and wept for a 2022 Lincoln Corsair. I haven't taken it to the Lord, from a broken heart and wounded spirit. I believe we do that with true heart's desires.
Sometimes, those heart's desires are tested, and we experience the death of a dream. Joseph experienced that in Genesis. In Chapter 37, we read of Joseph sharing some dreams given to him. Dreams of leadership and greatness. Then, the next years of his life are anything but the dreams in his heart. He was sold as a slave, sexually harassed, lied about, disbelieved, imprisoned, and forgotten. He must have thought he was mistaken about his dreams, but he never got hard toward God, Finally, in chapter 41 (and after about 13 years of suffering), Joseph's dreams came true. But the result wasn't just for his gratification. It was so he could be used to save the world from a famine, and to save his family--thereby preserving the nation of Israel! His dreams were real, but they had to come about in God's timing. The same is true for us. We have to surrender to the Lordship of Christ in all areas, and let Him work. Sometimes, He changes our heart's desires, proving that they weren't real desires of Him in the first place. If God has given you a heart's desire, that you really, truly believe in your heart is of Him, hold onto that, but hold onto Him tighter, and let Him work it out. He will show you what to do, and when to do it. Your job is to obey and wait. Ask God to clarify His will when you get discouraged. It is okay to ask Him for a glimpse into what He is doing. Along the journey, God has plans for you that you can't even imagine.
I remember when I was twenty years old. I had just started out as a full-time missionary (stateside). I was excited, but very broken. I was what you would call poor in spirit. Several of my hopes and dreams had been disappointed. My heart had been broken. I had been hurt and manipulated, and those who hurt me were being hailed as paragons of virtue by our ministry at the time (worth noting, the President of this ministry later apologized to me on behalf of the ministry for what had happened). Those were low, dark days for me. Sometimes, getting out of bed in the morning was hard. There were moments I didn't know if I could even take the next breath, that's how badly I hurt all the time. If I wasn't directly with other people, I was crying. Hard. Weeping, until my whole body shook. I daily asked God to take me home during that time. I was more afraid of life than I was of death. If you are familiar with the Christian poem Footprints, you'll understand what I mean when I say that those were one-footprint days. And yet during that dark, difficult time, some of the best fruit of my life was reaped. Barely managing every day, I invited a teenager girl to our summer missionary training camp, believing her to already be a Christian (she thought she was too), but she ended up getting saved as she led a group of five children to the Lord! From there, I got to disciple this young woman, and she is now a full-time missionary herself! That time in my life was not my heart's desire, but it was so vital for eternity! Every moment is! Even at our darkest times, God is working and using us, sometimes when we have no idea! We might not have "arrived" yet, but God is making someone else's dream (and His purposes) come true through you! A song that was popular during that time was Shout to the North, and some of the lyrics really speak to that time: ...You are strong when you feel weak. In your brokenness complete... I was broken, but I was complete, and God used me. He gently guided me every day, and led me to a better place.
Some verses that have encouraged me on my journey are as follows:
...we went through fire and through water; But you brought us out to rich fulfillment. Psalm 66:12
I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living. Psalm 27:13
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:9
Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable. He gives strength to the weary, And to him who lacks might He increases power. Though youths grow weary and tired, And vigorous young men stumble badly, Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary. Isaiah 40:28-31
Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. John 12:24
And my life verse, Romans 8:28, And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purposes.
These and other verse remind us that there is eternal meaning behind everything that happens to us, and that God hasn't forgotten us. He is working out His perfect will, and our heart's desires matter to Him. But ultimately, true surrender means:
These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. Hebrews 11:13.
We must be surrendered to Him, above even our own hopes and desires. We will receive our heart's desires in eternity--we can take that to the bank! God will fulfill us in Heaven so far beyond anything we can even imagine on earth. This above verse of Hebrews 11:13 is talking about Old Testament saints, who faithfully waited for the Messiah. He did not come in their lifetime, but they believed in Him anyway, and that was their salvation! The application for us is two-fold. First, Christ is our salvation, and we must look to Him in faith. Second, we might not see things happen the exact way we hope, but we must trust Him, and know our purposes will be served, both now and in eternity.
All of that to say, God does place desires in our hearts, and, letting Him guide us, we can see Him work! Hold out for what God is leading you to wait for. If an opportunity comes that just doesn't line up with how God is leading you, or that heart's desire, it is okay to say no! It doesn't mean you're going by emotions.
The Spirit, the Flesh, and Unbelievers
Early in this post I mentioned some verses that illustrate why people shouldn't follow their hearts. It should be pointed out, though, that these verses about our hearts being evil are referring to our natural state--the way we were before salvation. A heart without Jesus Christ, and the indwelling change the Holy Spirit makes. As Christians, we have the mind of Christ! (First Corinthians 2:16). We have been raised with Christ (Colossians 3:1). We are sealed with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13). A very great promise about our new life is found in Galatians 2:20: I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. Jesus' death is given to our sinful self, so that it doesn't have power over us anymore, and His victory is given to us now! He empowers us to live, choose and do righteously, according to the will of God. In this state of walking in the Spirit, we can follow the inclinations God puts into our hearts.
We still have that sinful nature, also known as the flesh. As we saw earlier, Paul wrote in Romans 7:18 that in his flesh there "dwelleth no good thing." While we are being made more and more like Jesus, our sinful nature doesn't improve. The good news is, we have victory over it, and never have to sin! Because of this, we need to seek to be in the spirit, and not the flesh. All we have to do is ask the Lord to help us, and He will! He will enable you to live in victory over your flesh! There are Christians who are letting the flesh rule them (sometimes I'm one of them). But it doesn't have to be that way, and it doesn't give us the happiness it gives a non-believer, because we have the Spirit of God living in us, convicting us of sin, and helping us to do right. When we sin, we grieve the Spirit. We are at war within. Galatians 5:17 explains it this way: For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. The Spirit wants to give you victory. You already have the mind of Christ, and His victory has been given to you! It's up to you to choose it daily! When a Christian is operating in the flesh, following their heart is very disastrous!
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