Happy February! This is women's heart health month so it's appropriate that our theme is the "Ups and Downs of a Woman's Heart".
This reminds me of a joke:
It seems a motorcycle rider was cruising along a California beach and suddenly heard God speaking to him. God told him that He would do anything the man asked, just to show the man His power and love. The motorcyclist was taken aback and blurted out the first thing that crossed his mind. "Lord, it would be awesome if I had a bridge from here to Hawaii and could just ride my cycle on over." The Lord answered, "That's a pretty tall order..do you realize how far that is and the engineering involved?"
The cyclist thought and said, "Well, if that's too hard, you could help me understand women.
If you could just explain the workings of their minds and hearts, I'd settle for that.
The was a moment's pause, then the Lord answered, "You want that bridge with two lanes or four?"
We all know that women's hearts are complicated and even we don't understand why we feel the way we do. For our heart health, we know we need to forgive others and ourselves,we need to let go of anger and guilt, and to "take a chill pill" sometimes to keep things in perspective. That will keep our blood pressure (and everyone else's) lower, too, This will help not only our heart health, but the health of our relationships.
One of the things I am fascinated with is windsocks. You know, those long, orange open-ended things mounted on a pole, usually near an airport to give a visual indication of wind direction and speed. Our home backs onto a large open area next to a former hospital, and for years, I could watch the windsock for the helicopter landing area from my window at the kitchen sink. I enjoyed watching the windsock as it foretold changes in our weather--I could always tell when the wind changed directions or speed and know that a storm or cold front was heading our way. Wouldn't it be helpful if our hearts had windsocks so others could be forewarned that a change or a storm was brewing?? It would like the mood rings of the 70's, telling others the "weather" of our hearts....Take cover, she's going to blow!
The fluctuations of my heart have caused me and others no little distress over the years. I would really rather have an unchangeable or steady heart and reactions. This brings me to the topic of steadfastness .
The word steadfast has several meanings: to stand "fast" or secure in place, to be firmly established or fixed, to be constant and unchanging, not fickle or wavering. Much too often my heart is up and down based on my circumstances, instead of being secure in my faith and trust in God. I did some research of the use of "steadfastness" in the Bible and these verses are the antidote to "ups and downs" of my heart:
Psalm 51:10 tells us, "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me."
Consider also, Psalm 112:7, "He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord."
The book, Unglued by Lisa Terkeurst, deals with the ups and downs of our emotions or hearts, helping us to get a handle on them and becoming more steadfast.
A chapter I found particularly helpful is called, "I need a Procedure Manual". Lysa describes an experience in which she was on an airplane before take-off and one of the passengers became completely unglued. The woman ranted and screamed obscenities and the flight crew concentrated on trying to calm her down. No matter how out of control the woman became, the crew remained calm, using carefully measured responses to the situation. The woman was removed from the plane, and Lysa observed that we should all follow a "procedures manual." in dealing with the circumstances and people in our lives. The crew had practiced a "default" plan that helped them to remain calm and in control. She uses the Biblcal story of King Jehoshaphat as an example of steps for our own default plan:(read his story in 2 Chronicles, chapters 19 and 20.
Step 1. Alarmed, I resolve to remember who I am.
Jehoshaphat received the very alarming news that a neighboring kingdom's army was headed his way to take over his country. He immediately resolved to inquire of God what to do and to remember that he belonged to God and was in His care.
Step 2. Redirect your focus to Jesus
Jehoshaphat took his eyes and thoughts off the alarming news and focused on the almighty and all powerful God instead. Sometimes we need to focus on Jesus because what we're coming unglued about isn't really worthy of a child of God. However, at other times our circumstances are so painful or tragic all we can do is cry out "Jesus". My friend RoAnn gave me a book ,"The Power of Crying Out", as she discovered for herself the power of crying out to Jesus as her family took refuge in their basement as a tornado destroyed trees and buildings around them last spring. In His name is our refuge, our peace in the storms.
Step 3. Recognize God's job is not your job
These words were given to King Jehoshaphat: " Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army (coming against you-my words). for the battle is not yours, but God's." -2 Chronicles 20:15
Too often we're paralyzed by not knowing what to do..we need to seek God's guidance from His word, and then obey. Our job is obedience, God's job is the results. We stay in the flow of God's power by searching His word for answers--about relationships, money troubles, anxiety, or whatever concern we have and then obeying and letting God work out the rest--that's all we can do.
Step 4. Shift from having an "attitude" to gratitude.
King Jehoshaphat's battle plans given to him by God were to send out the choir singing praises to God in front of his small army to meet the oncoming enemy. What a crazy plan! In the midst of our problems and troubles, we are also called to focus on what is right and praise God for those things. There is always something to be grateful for and that changes our perspective...our circumstances don't change, but our attitude does.
Step 5. My reactions determine my reach
Jehoshaphat's obedience and calm, trusting response brought forth not only the God-given victory over his enemy, but he was given peace and rest and his neighboring countries began to fear the Lord as well. Our responses to our problems can bring us peace if we trust in God and we also can influence others to find God's peace and trust, and to have steadfast hearts as well.
I really do want a steadfast heart and need to commit these steps to memory.
This is also a good time to improve your heart health by walking, eating right and reducing some of the stress in your life. Laugh each day..spend time in God's word. Take those vitamins. Do those things you've been putting off that would give you more rest--I'm starting with cleaning out my sock drawer again! (From windsocks to sock drawers) I can't tell the difference between the blue and the black pairs and every time I get dressed, it takes digging through all the socks to find the right pair. It's a small thing, but I get aggravated with myself each time because I haven't done what I can to fix the problem. What do you need to "fix" to have less stress and more rest? Let's get after it.
Celebrate Valentine's Day and the love God made possible for all of us by spreading His love all around--be generous in your loving! That's good for your heart, too..and celebrate with dark chocolate, another heart healthy bonus.
Here's one last verse to remind us to practice a default plan to protect our hearts from being up and down and all over the place:
"My heart is steadfast, O God, I will sing and make music with all my soul." -Psalm 108:1
