Posts
God is a gracious God. He is a man that loved us before we were even born. He is a man that gave us life, and died for our sins so that we may spend eternity with him. He created us for his Glory, not for ours. To think that we can take credit for anything we do on this earth, is absolute insanity. When we give, it is not us that gives, it is God. As my husband tells our kids, we are only the hands that does the work that God lays before us, it is God that gets the glory. It is through Gods word, and Gods guidance that we are placed in the right place at the right time. It is our job to follow our heart, to do what God is leading us to do. However, understand he doesn't need you, but he chose you to be the hands that gives, he chose you to be the mouth that speaks the word in which he created long before we ever existed. Strip yourself of your pride. Lay your heart before God daily. Ask him to open your eyes, to see the needs around you. Ask him to give you the heart and the ability to do the job that he has set before you.
Do not walk away, do not take the easy way out. One day you may be the person sitting in a house with no electric, and two little kids to feed and no food in the cabinets, and you won't be able to. It is then, only when you are in desperate need, that you can truly understand all of the needs you have walked away from in your life. When your kids are hungry, and you have turned to person after person, including who you thought were Christ followers, yet their heart wasn't following God and they kept on walking. Does that remind you of any story you have heard of in the bible?
So why the title, "Follow Your Heart"? That's where my daughter comes in. Today she wore a shirt that read "Follow Your Heart". As I read her shirt, it reminded me of her heart, and things God had laid upon heart. The things she chose to listen to, the lives that have been changed, because my daughter chose to follow the call that God had laid upon her heart. You can't have the excuse of, I don't have enough money to help, or I don't have the time, or I don't know anyone in need.
My daughter came home, her heart broken, because she knew a little girl that was in need. So God began to open doors to help this need before us, and my daughter wanted to help. She went to her room and gathered up some good toys in which she wanted to give. She brought them to me, and out of my ignorance, I said to her," someone is going to buy her new toys, you don't have to give her your old one." She went to her room and cried. God then began to speak to me. See, she was following her heart, and what she felt was the right thing to do. She wanted to be able to help in any way that a 7 year old possibly could. So, I began to cry as God began to break my heart, and said it's not about money, it's about the willingness to Give, and your daughter is willing to give in any way she can.
My daughter will be the first to tell you, we do not allow people to think that it is because of anything we do, that actually helps. But it is Christ that is taking care of them, it is Christ that gives, and we want people to go to Christ and not us. My daughter has taught me the unselfishness of giving, and that if God can use a 7 year old to realize the needs of people around her, he can use anyone. Sometimes it's about being willing to simply share what we already have at our home. When you have nothing, anything is a blessing. People with nothing, are more blessed with our used somethings, than we are to receive something new.
Ask God daily to open your eyes and your heart to see the needs around you. Ask God daily to give you the willingness, to simply share with others, the things that you are abundantly blessed in. Follow your heart daily, and leave your pride at the door. Keep it between you and God. If you allow yourself to brag, you will begin to think it is something you did, and forget that only Christ should receive all glory.
