Has your heart been under attack lately? We know the physical symptoms of a heart attack, but do you know the symptoms of a spiritual heart? It’s not less harmful, but just as painful. Have you ever desired something so much, but it never happened, or doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen? Have you ever wanted something to work out so bad for you, and it didn’t? Have youever wanted a job or contract, and it fell through? You find yourself asking God why this and why that, to no avail, there seems to be no answer to satisfy the ache in your heart.
A physical heart attack is a blockage of blood flow to the heart. A spiritual heart attack is a blockage of the flow of God’s word. It impedes your desires, seemingly something you thought was going to work out for you, but didn’t as if something that was for you was snatched from your grasp.
I remember a time when I was in distress, crying out to God. I had many questions and didn’t understand why I was going through this trial. The Holy Spirit said, “You’re having a backup”. What he meant was that there was too much of the world in me instead of His word. I had allowed what I’d seen and felt to overwhelm me. I was focused on what I wanted, and not considering what God wanted for me. We become so attached to our plans that we forget what God said in Jeremiah 29:11, “I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord. And when you forget, that’s a backup, which causes a heart attack.
The enemy uses our backup moments against us. He weaponizes our desires to distort our trust and faith in God. Backup moments are simply when you take your eye off Jesus. Just like Peter, when we take our eyes off Jesus, we sink; we sink into our own thinking, we sink into our own belief; we sink into wandering from Jesus; we sink into thinking and doing things our own way instead of God’s way. When you start feeling doubt, that’s a heart attack; when you start feeling fear, that’s a heart attack; when you start feeling weariness and discomfort, that’s a heart attack; when you start feeling worried and discontented, that’s a heart attack. When you start feeling anxious, depressed, and oppressed, that’s a heart attack.
The enemy is clever, and we must learn through the word of God to discern when the enemy is near, just not when he is already on us and trying to get in us. The enemy incites a spiritual attack on our hearts because he hears our prayers, too. He knows the areas of our lives that are vulnerable. Our heartsare the core of our being. Proverbs 4:23 states, “Above all else,guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. There was a quote that Dad often said, “Give God your heart and He will rule your life”.
Psalms 119:2 says Blessed are those who keep God’s law and seek Him with all their heart.
What I have learned in life, through my own experiences, God is the only one we should love with all our hearts. To love anyone or anything with all our hearts, apart from God, is a recipe for disappointment and pain. Yes, we should love and support one another, but let our whole heart belong to God. I often pray, Lord, teach me how to love from a safe place.
God takes it a step further in Jeremiah 17:9, saying, “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick; who can understand it? Though our hearts can be full of love and kindness, it is also prone to deception and sin. An unguarded, unprotected heart is prone to a heart attack. We filter our lives through our eyes, into our hearts. What you put in your heart matters. In Matthew 15, Jesus explains that it’s not what goes into the body that defiles a man, but what comes from the mouth, because it comes from the heart. The heart is the lifeline to so many aspects of our lives, and we have a responsibility to guard it from disappointment and sin. You may not be able to stop all heart attacks, but you can certainly mitigate the risk of them through the word of God. God teaches us how to guard and protect our hearts. We may experience pain and disappointment, but it doesn’t have to break our hearts.
Philippians 4:7 says, “and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus.
Trust your heart to God’s careful hands.
Be encouraged, blessings flow!