The Condition of the Heart - (Updated 9/29/13)

(Originally written 2/27/10...one of my very first blog posts)

Proverbs 12:25: "Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, but a good word makes it glad."

Proverbs 14:30: "A sound heart is life to the body, but envy is rottenness to the bones."

Proverbs 15:13: "A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.

Proverbs 17:22: "A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones."

Nowadays the grocery stores are full of "heart-smart" foods, and there is much emphasis on being "heart-smart"....in other words, eliminate cholesterol and fat from your diet, eat properly, exercise regularly, and take care of your heart! I recently had my cholesterol checked, and discovered that is was much higher than it ought to be. Of course, when we get over the age of fifty, nearly everything is higher than it ought to be...weight, blood pressure, body-fat composition, our unpaid bills...etc. About the only thing that isn't as high as it ought to be is our bank balance!

This is me with my oldest son, off on a morning walk to try and get back in
shape!  (9/28/2013)  The blaze orange vests are because hunting
season is starting and we don't want to be mistaken for deer. 

But back to the heart...as I read over the above Proverbs, I had to agree with the writer in every situation...the condition of my heart has a lot to do with the attitude of my heart. If we have anxiety in our hearts, we will become depressed...but when someone shares a word of encouragement with us, or we read in God's Word His encouraging words, it helps to dispel our anxieties and depression. Our fears are taken away, and our countenance changes to joy. Likewise, if we have envy or jealousy in our hearts, we become bitter and critical of others. We begin to complain about the "breaks" that others seem to get, while we suffer away, stuck in our little mundane world of mediocrity. It does become like rottenness inside of us, eating away at our hearts and making us very unpleasant people to be around. A broken spirit is not really a positive thing in this particular instance. Certainly we are not to have a haughty and proud spirit either, but what I believe is being referred to here is a spirit that is so defeated and cast down that the person just cannot or will not overcome it. We begin to literally dry up, shrivel up, if you please, and are no longer able to maintain a cheerful countenance. Our faces become permanently fixed into a frown, and it looks as if the whole face would crack if we tried to smile!

Have you truly looked at yourself in the mirror lately? What did you see? A cheerful face? A person ready to face the new day with joyous anticipation...or with dread and anxiety? Is it easy to smile at yourself in the mirror and laugh at your crows' feet that are appearing...or is there a frown that just won't go away, even with a concerted effort? Often when I am going through some difficult trials, I find that my face actually beings to hurt. The jaws become sore and painful from clenching my teeth and grinding them in my sleep. My jowls begin to droop, and my lips turn downward in a tight frown. The space between my eyebrows becomes tightly furrowed and compressed, and my eyes tend to squint and tighten. Then when I even try to smile, it actually is painful. The muscles won't cooperate because they have been forced in the other direction too long. By the sorrow of my heart, my spirit is broken. By the envy I feel for others, my bones begin to ache and rot. They actually feel like they are dry and cracking. My heart becomes heavy with depression because of my anxiety, and I no longer feel the joy of living. It's quite an ugly picture, I agree.

What can be done to bring back the joy...the merry heart, and the cheerful countenance? Must I just wait until the trial is over, or can I experience joy in the midst of sorrow? First, I must determine the source of the sorrow...is it self-induced by envy, needless anxiety, bitterness, fear? If so, I need to get to the root of the trouble. If there is unconfessed sin, confess it. If there is unforgiveness, forgive. But if the trial is brought on by the fact that you are who you are, a servant of God, then cast your care upon the Lord...know that He cares for you (I Peter 5:7) "Rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy."(I Peter 4:13)

And SMILE!  :)

Let your heart become a good medicine to bring back the cheerful countenance and dispel the gloom! Remember, God is able!

The Refining Fire-Preparation for that "Open Window" ?

Proverbs 17:3: "The refining pot is for silver and  the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart."

Malachi 3:2b-3: "For He is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap. He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer to the Lord an offering in righteousness."

Have you ever seen a rough nugget of gold fresh out of the rocks and dirt? When I first saw a real gold nugget at one of those places where you "pan for gold" along the road (a tourist trap) I thought, "How can anything so beautiful come out of something so ugly and lumpy and dirty?" One would wonder why people would literally kill to have such precious metals! But then you go to the jewelry store and you see all the gorgeous rings, pins, necklaces, brooches and other priceless items that have been fashioned out of those ugly lumps, and you marvel at the difference! What could have happened to make such a change?

In the case of gold, it must be crushed, ground, soaked in a chemical solution and melted at a temperature of at least 1063 degrees C and poured into a mold. Silver also goes through this refining process and melts at 960 degree C. When the metals are soaked in a chemical solution, they are sifted through and all of the dross is poured off and discarded. In other words, it is purified, refined, strengthened, and formed into a thing of great beauty.

All of this process takes time, careful guidance, and skill. It also takes some terrifically high heat. Without following all these steps completely, gold and silver just wouldn't be the beautiful and precious metal that we know it to be. It would be like any other rock...nothing about which to become very excited!

We are much like gold and silver in its natural state...lumps of clay without any real beauty and use. Oh certainly, we would make a great paperweight or door stop, but without careful cultivation we would not become the beautiful person that God intends us to be. Sometimes the refining process takes a lot of high heat, grinding, melting, crushing and sifting out the ugly things of our lives so that we may become useful, strong, and beautifully fashioned for God's use. This process is never pleasant, certainly not very desirable, but oh so necessary. God's Word says that the Lord tests the hearts. This refining process is purifying the innermost being of our hearts and souls, purging out the dark and ugly things, cleaning the dirty corners and grinding away the rough edges. It's very painful going through this process, but the end results certainly justify the means. God's refining fire does not consume us, but it purges us of all unrighteousness that when He returns we "may offer to the Lord an offering in righteousness." (Malachi 3:3b.)

Lord, I do not like the fiery trials through which You have allowed me to travel, but I thank you for them. Even though the heat was sometimes more than I could bear, You, oh Lord, did not consume me. You have tested my heart, and have strengthened me in my innermost fibers. You have created in me a clean heart, so that I may shine as pure gold and silver. I know that I am not alone in these fiery trials, for Christ Himself had to suffer for my sake and for the sins of the whole world. Therefore I rejoice in that I am a partaker of Christ's sufferings, and when His glory is revealed, I may also be glad with exceeding joy. (I Peter 4:12-13) Lord, just help me to remember when the trials come that the final result will be precious in Your sight. Thank you for caring about me enough to take the time to purify and refine me as gold and silver. Amen.

Are you going through some fiery trial right now, and you just can't see how anything good could possibly come from it?  Or maybe you have already been there, and you are still reeling from its heat.  Perhaps another door has slammed shut in your life, and you feel abandoned and angry.  Please HOLD ON, dear friend! You are NOT ALONE in your furnace!  Like Daniel's friends, when King Nebuchadnezzar had them thrown into the fiery furnace (see Daniel 3:8-25), the Son of God, Jesus our Redeemer, is right there in the midst of the flames with you! He will NEVER leave you or forsake you! (Hebrews 13:5) Be ready and watching...that "open window" from God may be right around the corner.  Hey! That 'pot of gold' we've all been looking for isn't at the end of the rainbow afterall! It's right here, inside each and every one of us...if we'll just let God finish the work He has started!  I guess that makes us very precious indeed!!!