Tuesday, June 3, 2014

The Heart That Lies by Angie Arndt

The Paul Colman Trio has a song out called Run. In it they sing, “They say just follow your heart. Yeah, but what if it lies?”  The world keeps telling us, “Follow your heart,” “Have it your way,” “Be true to yourself.” Even the Declaration of Independence says that we have the right to the “pursuit of happiness.” But no child says, "I want to work in an insurance company when I grow up.” 

There is an old logic puzzle about a city full of two kinds of people: truth-tellers and liars. The object was to find the questions should you ask in order to get to the castle and avoid the fire-breathing dragon. The problem was that you never knew who you were talking to – a truth-teller or a liar. That’s the way it is with our hearts. The heart does lie. We are tainted by our own sin and the sin of others. We can’t listen to our hearts because even at the best of times we don’t know when it’s lying.

A wise man once lived next door to me when I was twenty-something and I talked with him occasionally about the turmoil and decisions I needed to make. Whenever I asked for his thoughts about things, his reply would be, “Do you really want my opinion or do you want me to agree with yours?”  That is what often happens when we bring our petitions to God. We want Him to agree with our plans.

Every writer wants to be published and have our words read by people all over the globe, but what if God has called us to write for a small audience? What if we are called to write for no one but ourselves? What if our calling is only to endure suffering with the help of His grace? Do we want what we want or what God wants? Wherever God puts us, we are to daily seek His guidance. The only heart that doesn’t lie is God’s heart. The only constant Truth-tellers in our lives are our Lord and His Word.

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Do you really want my opinion or do you want me to agree with yours?
Do we want what we want or what God wants? 
The only heart that doesn’t lie is God’s heart. 

Questions for You
Have you always wanted to be a writer? If not, when did you start writing?
Have you ever thought you were following God's plan but found you were mistaken?
How can you be sure you're following God's heart?

Thanks so much for joining me. 
~ Angie