"Guard Your Heart"

A lot of times, mainly in Christian circles, whenever someone says "guard your heart" it is in regards to relationships....and then begins the list of what to, and not to, do in order to achieve said guarding: Don't get too close. Do be careful. Don't give too much away. Do protect your emotions, etc. The list can be seemingly endless, and it certainly doesn't seem helpful to those who are single at the time. In the devotional that I am working through right now ("Single Purpose" by H. Norman Wright. Amazing. Get it.) there is a day with the title "Guard Your Heart." Naturally, growing up in the Christian community and knowing that this devotional is specifically geared towards singles, the list previously mentioned immediately started going through my mind, and I was tempted to skip to the next day's reading. However, that would have left a pit of guilt in my gut, even though God and I would be the only ones to know it was skipped, and so I read it anyway. It was greatly surprising how the author took a cliche phrase and turned it around to talk about worry, instead of directly talking about relationships. It was awesome! The whole reading was about protecting your heart from worry and becoming overwhelmed by worrisome thoughts instead of focusing on God and that He will provide His perfect peace to those who maintain a focus on Him.

Here is a little excerpt from the reading:

"Worry is best represented by the familiar scene at the Snake River in the Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming where colonies of beavers live along the riverbanks. Often you can see trees that are at various stages of being gnawed to the ground by the beavers. Some trees have slight rings around their trunks where these busy little animals have just begun to chew. Some manifest a barrenness where several inches of bark have been eaten away; others have already fallen to the ground because the beavers have gnawed through their trunks. Worry can have the same effect upon you. It can gradually eat away at your heart and mind until it has destroyed you!"

[SINGLE PURPOSE, H. Norman Wright. Page 45.]

Ok, I know that doesn't sound very encouraging. But reading this paragraph made me, a self-proclaimed worrier at heart, really stop and think about all the things that I let bother me when some of those things really don't matter. Oh, ok, so I may have made a tiny mistake at work. Whoops. "Mistakes can be fixed" as one of my co-workers told me in a pep talk. The devotional then points to Psalm 37, which is powerful!

"1FRET NOT yourself because of evildoers, neither be envious against those who work unrighteousness (that which is not upright or in right standing with God).
2For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.
3Trust (lean on, rely on, and be confident) in the Lord and do good; so shall you dwell in the land and feed surely on His faithfulness, and truly you shall be fed.
4Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires and secret petitions of your heart.
5Commit your way to the Lord [roll and repose each care of your load on Him]; trust (lean on, rely on, and be confident) also in Him and He will bring it to pass.
6And He will make your uprightness and right standing with God go forth as the light, and your justice and right as [the shining sun of] the noonday.
7Be still and rest in the Lord; wait for Him and patiently lean yourself upon Him; fret not yourself because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked devices to pass.
8Cease from anger and forsake wrath; fret not yourself--it tends only to evildoing.
9For evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait and hope and look for the Lord [in the end] shall inherit the earth.
10For yet a little while, and the evildoers will be no more; though you look with care where they used to be, they will not be found.

[PSALM 37:1-10, AMP]

The devotional is quick to point out that this passage gives a substitute to worry; Rely on God. Trust in Him. Depend upon His peace. The challenge, and practical application, is to write "STOP!" in huge letters on one side of a note card. On the other side, to write Philippians 4:6-9, the whole text. Whenever you find yourself starting to worry, find a quite place, hold up the card with the "STOP!" side facing you, then turn it over and read the verses out loud. Do this twice. Of course, if you cannot find a quite place to be alone, you can still do this, through the book recommends doing it silently if you are in a group ;)

To be completely honest, I do struggle with worry....of many kinds. It could be worry about my own (physical) life, worry about others, worry about situations that may or may not happen, worry about finances, worry about family members' health, etc. It can be easy to be overcome with worry when looking at the grand scheme of things. Or, looking at one side of the grand scheme. When focusing on the REAL grand scheme of life, why worry about these things? Not to sound as though I don't care about financial independence or the well-being of my family, because I do care! My point is this: Worry is an attack on faith (something else the devotional pointed out in a different reading). Why would I worry about these things if I truly trusted that God is in control? Honestly, I probably wouldn't. Therefore, I am making a goal for myself, to actually make a personal STOP sign and carry it with me. At work, in the car, in airplane flights (goodness knows I worry about those!), everywhere. In fact, it is high on my to-do list for tomorrow. Considering that I am giving this challenge to myself, I would also like to give this challenge to everyone else who also struggles with worry (and most of us probably have at one time or another).

6Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
7And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.
9The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

[PHILIPPIANS 4:6-9, NASB]