When Your Heart's Not In It
Maybe it’s a job. Or a Chore. Or an exercise… Maybe it’s a relationship. Maybe it’s a conversation you need to have that nags at your spirit.
We all have something.
It feels like you are just going through the motions, uninspired. Worse yet, you look at everyone else around you and silently determine that they have their mojo intact. You are the only one, it seems, struggling.
I find myself here more often than I would like to admit.
The problem is that this is the exact thing that the enemy uses to whisper in your ear about all the things that are wrong in your life. It could be simple things, like “You don’t really think that just walking all those steps is going to change anything, do you?” Or “What good is saying you’re sorry going to do? He doesn’t care anyway.” Or how about “What’s the sense in working so hard? Nobody appreciates it…”
When I get in this place, when I find myself sitting atop my pity party stool a bit too long, I have to stop and give myself a good talking to. Usually, it is due to the fact that I haven’t been spending enough time in prayer. When I am just dashing off my list to Him like things I need to get at the grocery store, I am not grounded. Everything I attempt seems off a step or two.
When we look at our lives, our circumstances, through the lens of faith, we can notice all that He is doing in our midst. We have hope and expectation that — though things are not perfect — they are still blessed. We are always in motion, always evolving, always transitioning. How we measure what we have, what God has already done, determines our outlook.
Everyone — everyone — has something that burdens their heart. Nothing is perfect no matter what kind of shine people put on their faces and their FaceBook posts. Underneath every rug, is something someone doesn’t want you to see.
My point is, when we turn our hearts to Him, when we pray and give to Him our sorrows and disappointments, He gives us Grace. When we count our blessings, when we sense that He is at work in our circumstances, our countenance changes. We are infused with the spirit of hopefulness… And miraculously, we are made ready to face our challenges and our daily tasks without lament.
When we compare, we despair. But when we expect, when we are grateful, mountains move. The enemy, and all those whispers, turn mute.
This week, the Scripture, Matthew 16:26 kept coming back to me. “What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?”
When we are low, when we are led to looking at our life situations without faith, we make decisions that cost us. We stop seeing God’s hand and presence in our lives. We break covenants, we convince ourselves that there is better “out there,” we stop honoring our promises, our relationships, our integrity…. We give up and go after things that we think will make us happy.
Little do we know that the road we are on leads only to a mirage of sin and utter devastation.
We need God to catch us before the fall.
Maybe you are weary from all that faces you each day. Maybe there is too much month left at the end of your money. Maybe you are walking through life while still mending a broken place within you. Maybe you are lonely…
Maybe your heart just isn’t in it.
Take some time today to just sit and pray and find your voice… Open up and tell Him all about it. Ask Him for the faith you need to see that He is with you, changing you, healing you. Know that nothing is perfect, but we are made perfect in His love.
His promises are true. Fill your empty places with His spirit and know that nothing is impossible for God.
Even the most desperate situations are transformed when we Believe Him for what comes next. We may just need faith enough to get through the next five minutes. Or maybe you are in a season that has been long and arduous and there seems to be no end in sight.
Trust Him. He has not forgotten you. Lay it all down at His feet.
We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.
Keep going, sister. You are not alone.
Believe it.
Mary Bryant is the author of "When He Walks Away… Hearing God When Your Husband Leaves Your Marriage,” a 5-Star Rated book available on Amazon