Challenging times will bring out both the best and the worst in people. In the best, we witness incredible acts of kindness and compassion, and in the worst, we might see selfishness on a level that is shocking and the widening of negative behaviors that society seems to accommodate. As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, one would hope that we will hold ourselves up to the scrutiny of God’s Word to see how we square. The Apostle Paul tells us in 2Corinthians 13:5 that we should examine ourselves to see if our faith is genuine. We ought to be testing ourselves for this, because, as Job 7:18 says, God examines us every morning. Reckoning with this truth should inspire us to take a good long look at what God is seeing at the core of our beings. This is incredibly important for us because a new season of blessings is approaching, and what we’re doing in this current season reveals if we’ll be ready for what comes next.
Test Yourselves
There’s not too many disappointments in life that are as hurtful as a relationship that didn’t make it. When we let someone into our hearts, they can become very significant to our emotional well-being because we rely on them for care and support. After the relationship falls apart, and the pieces of it fall to the ground, sometimes we attempt to pick them up. In many cases this isn’t possible. There are too many pieces that fell apart, and some we never even looked at until they hit the ground. This event can play out more than a couple of times in a person’s life. They can go through a series of break-ups and begin to lose faith they’ll find the right person. It doesn’t have to be this way. Sure, pain is inevitable, but much of it is avoidable.
In Proverbs 4:23(NLT), God tells us, “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.” This is a very pivotal piece of wisdom for anyone interested in having a fulfilling, long lasting, and significant relationship. Heavenly Father would not tell us to do something of which we’re not capable. He’s given us everything we need to be careful about who we let into our lives and who we let into our hearts. Sometimes, we make mistakes in this area, and we let someone into our hearts that doesn’t really have what it takes to care for them. When the outcome is heartbreak, we can’t afford to walk away without learning the lesson the heartbreak teaches us.
We should give ourselves a little time to grieve, but after the grieving process, we need to pull out the magnifying lens of God’s wisdom. We need to test ourselves to make sure we’re better prepared to guard our hearts, so that the next person we let into our lives is worthy to be there.
Comfort is not always a good judge
God designed life in such a way that getting better, stronger, and wiser through His Word is required in order to go higher in blessings and maturity. One of the things that He has revealed in this season is how ill-prepared we are to go higher. For some reason, some of us have been under the impression that we could remain in our comfort zones and didn’t have to do anything to prepare for what comes next. So, we haven’t guarded our hearts against negative relationships, bad behaviors, or toxic attitudes. Instead, we’ve invited them in, offered them brunch, and made them comfortable in the inner sanctums of our beings. Switching gears right about now is a really good idea! One of the things we may need to recognize is that comfort isn’t always a good judge as to whether something works for our lives.
2Chronicles 16:9(NLT) tells us, “The eyes of the LORD search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” God is searching for the hearts of those that are humble, because those are individuals that recognize how much they need Him. We must be humble enough to step outside our comfort zones in order to confront our errors and correct them through His love. Yes, it’s uncomfortable to admit we’ve used the practice of withholding attention to punish the person we care about, when we have a habit of exhibiting uncontrolled outbursts of anger and will lie to our partners to get our own way. It’s uncomfortable to recognize that our insecurities are calling the shots and perpetuating a jealous attitude. And it’s uncomfortable to admit that you don’t want a committed relationship with the person you’re seeing but will string them along to fulfill your own selfish needs.
The psalmist prayed in Psalm 51:10(KJV), “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” We’ve got to use this time to get our spirits right, or else we’re going to miss what the Father wants to give us. We need God’s forgiveness for the stuff within that continues to work against us. It’s easy to blame life, the world, or the other person, but the mirror beckons. This isn’t to say that everything is our fault, but it’s to be humble before God and admit that we might have had some responsibility in the demise of our past relationships. This type of confession before God opens the door for repentance and renewal. It helps us to recognize errors that we won’t repeat. We must ask God to forgive us—to give us a clean heart and do a work in our souls through His Spirit, so that we learn the lessons our mistakes can teach us.
Heartbreak, despair, and disappointments can be devastating, but it isn’t God’s Will for us to move from heartbreak to heartbreak, or from tragedy to more tragedy. His Will is that we have the more than abundant life that Jesus Christ has made available. This earth is our only opportunity to change and be who we were destined to become, so let’s do things differently. Let’s do as God commands in Romans 12:2 and let Him transform us into a new person as we change our thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors for the better. Let’s study His Word so that we know God’s Will and Plan for us. Let’s not put up walls around our hearts. Instead, let’s guard them God’s way by trusting Him to guide us. Let Him prepare you by doing your part to grow spiritually, then you will be ready for the blessings that come next.■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“Prepared for the Blessing”, written for Crazynlove.com ©2020. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord!