"Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life. Proverbs 4:23
We finished last time with these thoughts; the line between doing and feeling is a thin one. We tend to act out by doing what we are feeling without much thought. But- if feeling is the first indicator that something is going wrong we must then check for a heart issue before we act out on the doing level.
Paul Tripp says, “The Bible uses “heart” to describe the inner person…the heart is the real you." Those of you that read daily know this is my mantra!
When our hearts are not focused on loving God, problems occur. (Matt. 15:18-19) This is because we are really practicing idolatry! When I am more focused on worrying and being anxious, am I also focusing on loving God? Can my mind be divided this way, or am I only fooling myself into thinking I can do both? I maintain it is another case of my heart lying to itself- I am self-deceived!
Because of the fact that scripturally speaking, the heart is often equated with the mind. (Heb. 4:12) I am acting from a divided mind when I think I am able to focus on God and worry at the same time. It is just not possible to do both. This is why James speaks of a double minded man being unstable in all he does. As we worry and try to focus on God and His glory we find that we are on a see-saw of sorts, vacillating between faith and doubt, worry and confidence in God’s sovereignty, anxiety and trusting God. It is an endless, painful moving as all the emotions that accompany this cycle slosh us around continually creating tension, body aches, pain and misery.
The way out is through the renewing of the mind and heart transformation. (Psa. 51:10)
For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Hebrews 4:12 (NASB)
Changing our minds, i.e. the way we think, the way we evaluate our circumstances changes the heart, as the heart changes the mind through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit.
Remember- Worry is sin!
Our original definition of worry said that worry, anxiousness, unreasonable fear, is sin. While the sin is rooted in our hearts, it’s propelled outward by unbiblical thinking which leads to unbiblical actions.
God wants to progressively liberate us from worry. (