This will be a year of transparency for my blog. I’ve always known the things that I’m the most hesitant to share with you all are the things that have the greatest chance of speaking life into you. That is, beautifully enough, the way God’s church can regain power over the rampant lies constantly tearing people down. It’s time to work on the root of the issue: our heart.
Transparency.
We’ll start today with something that’s sat in my drafts box for nearly two years.
The Heart Audit
An official inspection of an individual’s or organization’s accounts, typically by an independent body.
Definition of ‘audit,’ Oxford Dictionary
It’s time to assess the state of things, and you can’t do it on your own. I know I can’t.
The state of your heart dictates the state of your everything.
Pastor Michael Todd once called the heart the “Captain’s Chair.” As long as you insist on sitting on the throne of your heart, you will be hopelessly astray. Nothing personal. I’m not just saying this to you. I’m saying it to every human being on earth.
Sorry, Grandmother Willow, but listening to your heart is pretty much the worst advice in the history of ever.
The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?
Jeremiah 17:9
Are you ready to gain momentum with me in 2020? Because not only is this the year for transparency, but it will also be a year of extreme boldness, joy, and submission.
By the way…Why is that the scariest word, like, ever?
Well, for one we rarely see it painted positively here on earth. Considering we’re all incredibly flawed the idea of submitting to anyone else is enough to serve up anxiety.
But what about submitting to God?
He’s perfect, omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, love, grace–!
But we aren’t.
We love things in this world. We are in constant pursuit of comfort and pleasure (Just try to eat half a chocolate bar. Just try!!!) We fear pain, death, and loss. And yet anyone who’s been a Christian for more than five minutes senses the truth that all of those unattractive things are on the table when we submit to our Heavenly Father because those same tragic things are what He uses to bring us through to the most incredible outcomes.
It’s one of His trademarks.
And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.
Romans 8:28, NLT
It takes courage to do a heart audit because it’s turning the spotlight back on yourself and handing the reigns over to someone that knows infinitely better than you to do the auditing. It’s the spotlight most really don’t want. The one that doesn’t come with instant accolades, raises, or applause. At the least, it bears offense and at it’s best, wrestling and submission that gives way to breakthrough.
There’s a big hint at how breakthroughs happen in the word itself.
Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.
James 1:2-4, NLT
First: You’ve got to ask God to do the audit.
O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me.
…
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.
Psalm 139:1, 23-24 NLT
He already knows. You have a pretty strong inkling, though not even you know how deep your issues really go. To this day I turn to Shea and ask, voice laden with intense irritation, “Why do I get so angry so often? Where does it come from?!“
I truly have no idea where the wrath that bubbles up inside me comes from. It can come for the silliest thing and be absent in the midst of deep hurt. It roars to life seemingly at random. I barely even know my triggers. What birthed these feelings all those years ago? Or, was it always there, as much a part of me as the color of my eyes?
Only God knows. That’s why it’s so important to ask Him.
Second: You’ve got to accept His assessment.
But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
1 Samuel 16:7, NLT
It takes courage to sign up for such a commitment; it’s definitely unwise to ask God for critiques and then toss them to the wayside in favor of pride or convenience. You’re going to have to take what He says to heart and let Him lead you to eternal things.
Rest assured! No matter how terrible it may feel to see the dark truths you’ve avoided for so long, whatever comes to light when we’re submitted to God can be flipped for redemption! Without God we are wicked, but with Him? We are miraculous.
That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
2 Corinthians 12:10, NLT
We rely on God when we feel inadequate and weak and in doing so, tap into the infinite power and victory He has over everything.
The truth is, we are inadequate and weak in every way.
I know so many that would rush to comfort me and counter that statement, hoping they were coming to my self-esteem’s rescue. Sorry, I need to know this. We all do. We need to know that our pride is unfounded, built on delusion and biased weights and measures.
Every aspect of our lives submitted to God will become better, bear more fruit, and bless more people.
So many answers to your prayers are on the other side of your heart’s submission.
Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.
Proverbs 4:23, NLT
We have a tendency to react rather than respond and retaliate rather than reach out. God helps us do the opposite. How we experience reality relies heavily on the state of our hearts. What may be crippling outside of Christ might be empowering through Him.
“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.
Isaiah 55:8-9, NLT
Third: You Must Submit Your Heart Faults to Him
For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
Jeremiah 29:11, NLT
God’s revealed faults He wants to work with you on. It’s not enough to know what’s wrong with you. If anything, that is incredibly discouraging. You don’t need to be discouraged! You are so loved. God wants to invest in you. The Holy Spirit is always in you, waiting to impress truth on your heart and combat the enemies inside and out.
Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
Romans 12:2, NLT
Change the way you think. Did you know that your brain is a huge field of synapses of interconnected associations? When you think of ice cream you quickly think of Ben & Jerry’s and summer and cookies n’ cream and your diet and it’s all because of how synapses in your brain have formed associations. The more you reinforce certain relationships, the stronger the synapses become. The less you activate them, the weaker they become.
The more we focus on God and His truths, the stronger the godly synapse associations in our brain. The less we focus on our misguided heart calls, the less we focus on the things of this world and the less importance we put on things that will just lead us to ruin.
Go figure. God literally, biologically, and chemically wants to transform your mind. And it all starts with seeking Him spiritually and genuinely.
YOU CAN DO THIS!
God made us durable for times such as these. The you that He always planned for you to be lies on the other side of submission and grace. Don’t put it off another second. Don’t give doubt and fear another minute to convince you it’s unwise to let God loose in your heart.
Let Him lead. It’s a beautiful, wild ride.