Follow Your Heart Series

We have all heard the expression, “Follow your heart.” But what does that mean? Maybe it’s a work of fiction, like Narnia, or Lord of the Rings? Is following your heart a “gut-feeling,” “intuition,” “logic or reason,” or something we just “feel” is the right thing to do?

The Bible says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?” Jeremiah 17:9

Nathan told David to, “Go, do all that is in your heart, for the LORD is with you.” 2 Samuel 7:3

Does the Bible contradict itself? The answer is no. We simply don’t understand the ways of God so we decide on our own ways.

We strategize, plan and proceed like we can tackle life ourselves and far too often our hearts are unknown even to us.

Very few people know the Real You. We usually have a spouse, and one or two close friends that really know us inside and out. Most people don’t have close people and even though we are wired for relationships we neglect the most crucial two. Our relationship with God and our relationship with ourselves.

If we are not careful we waste years searching, reaching and following things that aren’t even are real hearts. We might not know what God wants us to do or be because the situation seems so strange.

Take Hadassah for example. A biblical heroin. You might know her better as Esther. She went from a from a one-night stand to Queen of Persia. Doesn’t make sense how it happened but many times life itself doesn’t make sense.

How can God use bad for good? How can you know what heart in you to follow? Look at our text…Proverbs 3:5-6

Here we learn there are two foundational facts to following our heart:

I. The Principle to Follow (v.5)

Proverbs is written with two verse linked together. For example in our chapter verse 1-2 go together, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8 and so on. These verses complement one another and are called companion verses.

In v.5 we have a Principle. An accepted rule of action or conduct: This principle is practiced and restated throughout the Bible.

To understand the principle we have to examine the first word in the verse; TRUST...Trust here means to have total confidence in and be secure. But how is this trust manifested? How does trust show itself?

In Love—just as our verse says Trust the Lord with all your heart, the Bible tells us to Love the Lord with all your heart.

God established this principle in Deuteronomy to the children of Israel. “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” Deuteronomy 6:5

It was repeated several more times in Deuteronomy, reinforced in Joshua and then in Matthew, Mark and Luke. Matthew 22:37, Jesus said to him, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.”

Love and Trust are hand in hand in the Bible in our relationship to the Lord. They also are hand in hand in life. When we love someone we trust them and when we trust someone we love them.

Esther loved her uncle Mordecai. Mordecai persuaded Esther to keep her Jewish heritage a secret. Mordecai had uncovered the plan that all the Jews would be slaughtered. The plan was put in place by Haman.

Haman was the right hand man of king Xerxes but he was also a servant of Hell. Haman was possessed by the same Devil that possessed Hitler. Wipe out the people of God.

So what do we do when all Hell breaks lose against us? When we are at our wit’s end and we cannot find or even look for a light in the darkness.

Notice the word LEAN in v.5 It means to lean on for support. The word is used as rely on or rest in. Do you begin to see the picture of the principle?

In Exodus 33:14 promised Moses and His people by saying these words, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Jesus spoke the same principle in the N.T. with these words, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28

Where do we go when life wears us out? Job lost all his Possessions and all his children. His wife heartbroken, in anguish gave him this advice. “Curse God and die.” Probably how she felt in the darkness.

But Job had three friends and they all came to the same Conclusion—you sir have sinned and it must be a biggie because look what God did to punish you. But his friends didn’t know his heart.

No one knows our heart like Jesus. We don’t know our own hearts sometimes and in those times we must LEAN on JESUS!