The "Take Heart" Series

Part 1: "Guard your heart"

I’m in the process of some deep heart healing right now. Anyone else?? So, I have been thinking about this a lot lately, “guarding my heart.” What does it look like? How do you guard your heart when it’s been hurt, without shutting down and shutting it off? How do you guard it and at the same time still lovingly use it? 

First things first:
Jesus is the One who satisfies my heart, heals it & redeems it, and I know regardless of what I walk through, HE is the only one who can not only fix it; but make it brand new. Amen?

Secondly: 
My heart is one of the biggest & best gifts He’s given me. I use it to love, to speak and to write. I pour it out to create, to dream, to worship and in spiritual warfare to fight. So I need to fully know its value to God & diligently protect it. Yes?

As I’ve been bringing Him my heart and asking Him to heal it and help me guard it. He showed me a picture of an open heart surgery. As I continue to reflect on this, I find it super interesting. Think about open heart surgery, think about how many precautions are taken to ensure the heart that is being operated on is protected.

We must similarly take the same measure, especially when we are spiritually in heart surgery & letting God heal us.

So friend, let the Surgeon work. God has a lot of good, good, GOOD things for you. Let’s make sure we do the work and are fully healed so we can be ready to receive them, take care of them and keep them. 

*Proverbs 4:23 
- “Guard your heart above ALL else, for it determines the course of your life.” (NLT)

- “Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above ALL that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life.” (AMPC‬‬)

Part 2: "Yielding your heart"

This is most likely not the typical topic you hear preached after “guarding your heart."

The parallels are quite "uncomfy" for me as I write this because of the vulnerability required. They are real and incredibly raw in my current heart condition, and that’s how I know it’s God. He usually calls us to do just that: get uncomfortable and vulnerable while we are in it, not just after we’re out.

When the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said that after guarding my heart, I need to yield it, I immediately clenched and wanted to run. The dialogue went something like this, “God, You just showed me that spiritually my heart is in open heart surgery! You said that I need to guard it! What do You mean yield it? How do I even do that!?”

Yup. He definitely said and meant yield.

I then saw a picture of me yielding at a roundabout in busy traffic, trusting when it’s my turn. Trusting fully in being protected, safe and in the direction I’m going. Being led by the power of my vehicle as I drive towards my destination.

Beautiful revelation, but real talk? It’s also terrifying at the same time. However, I know, love and adore His voice enough to do whatever it takes to follow it and chase it down.

As you walk with God, you learn His voice and recognize it, even in the midst of the hardest things you’ve ever endured. I would even dare to say, especially in those circumstances. Although it is usually a hard decision that costs you something, when it’s God, it’s met with peace (Philippians 4:7). As you yield to that voice, you get where you’re supposed to go.

So, yield your heart to Him today. Whatever condition your heart is in, yield it. He created it, so He certainly knows what breaks it and He knows what fixes it. You can trust Him.

*Galatians 5:16
“Let me emphasize this: As you yield to the dynamic life & power of the Holy Spirit, you will abandon the cravings of your self-life.” 

*Psalm 37:5
“Commit your way to the Lord [roll & repose each care of your load on Him]; trust (lean on, rely on, & be confident) also in Him & He will bring it to pass.” 


Part 3: "Be Still & Be Free"

After we guard our heart, yield it and get to where God’s asking us to be, eventually we have to be still and fully trust Him with it. 

How do we wait, when we’re in pain? How do we “be still,” when it hurts?

What if instead of making it all about us, we made it all about Him?
What if instead of getting stuck inside the who/what/why, we worshipped?
What if instead of trying to control our circumstances, we cleaned up our hearts? What if instead of getting lost in all the questions we have of what we don’t understand, we found peace in the Answer to them all? 

*Isaiah 43:18-19 
“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing!…”

God’s plan for your life is breaking through all the walls you’ve built around your heart, your plans, your expectations & everything keeping you from all that He has for you. Do you not “see” what God is doing? He said He’s doing a new thing, it just never looks anything like what we thought it would.

So, be still and be free. Be free from what was, from what happened, from what they did or didn’t do. Be free from your idea of what you thought God was going to do, and walk in the freedom of who He is and who you are in Him. It’s going to get better, and it’s going to be beautiful.

*Psalm 46:10
“Let be and be still, and know (recognize and understand) that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations! I will be exalted in the earth!”

- Carly Lynn // @car1ylynn