Heartfuel

Mary Stout

“My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you,turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding—indeed, if you call out for insightand cry aloud for understanding,and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure,then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.” (Proverbs 2:1-5)

As I began contemplating the new year, I prayed the Lord would guide me to set goals and show me the path of success to achieve them. That is when I stumbled upon a 31 day wisdom challenge. As I listened to the video on the second day it hit me– God was saying here you are, there’s your answer. It’s actually a study on the book of Proverbs. As I listened and learned I realized a couple things.

Resolutions are not met mostly because we are not serious about them. We give it a go and then we get busy or get disenchanted with the whole process and we give up.

The kids get sick, the job you really were hoping for falls through, the bills need to be paid and you have too much month at the end of your money. Lots of life happens and we forget to take care of ourselves. Life goes on and we look back and say oh shoot resolutions don’t work. I bet that’s happened to a lot of you.

So what’s the solution? We find the solution in our faith. So much of faith life is a choice, isn’t it? We have to choose daily to visit God in prayer and in the Word. After all, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”. John 1:1 As we find golden nuggets of wisdom, we get closer to our Father.

I will confess there are days I don’t choose well. Instead I just say a quick prayer and move on. I don’t listen to God very well. I say I trust him and deep down my soul longs for connection. I just don’t see it. I believe it but that’s not God’s doing. It’s mine.

I need to commit to living on purpose for the Lord. These verses helped me see if I opened up my heart and really listened to Him I would find the answers in places I never expected. If I applied His words to my life, I would come out on top and meet all the goals I had.

One can read all the Bible you want but until you put those words into practice, your life probably will not change much. That seems harsh to me but it is the truth. Jesus is the truth. I plan to change my life by committing all of it to the Lord. Every struggle gets His attention. Every joy gets Him praise. Every gratitude opens up the gates of heaven to connect and commune.

I remember once someone asked me when I was younger if I would do something and I replied I will try. The person said, “Do or do not, there is no try.” (Yoda)

This year I quit trying.

Heartfuel connects us to our Father. Let us apply it to our lives.

Prayer: Father, as we commit our daily life to you, help us hear you in our heart and help us see what you see. Bring us into a deeper connection Lord as we commit to making our lives a light for your Kingdom for the world to see. In Jesus’ name, amen.