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Proverbs 24
As I sometimes do, I am pausing on my reading of Daniel to just change the pace a little, from heavy vision-reading and to dig into a little of the timeless wisdom of Proverbs. Today I chose Proverbs 24, and what really jumped out at me this morning were verses 17 and 18:
17 Do not rejoice when your enemy falls,
and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles,
18 lest the Lord see it and be displeased,
and turn away his anger from him.
I am reminded that God is in the ‘heart’ business. Meaning, what I do is important, but the reason it is important is two-fold - (1) what I do directs what I feel ultimately, and (2) what I do is also typically a great cue as to what I feel.
Unpacking this a little...most of tend, by default, to allow our emotions to guide our actions. We do something because we feel like doing it. We say something because we feel like saying it. A wise person understands though, that often, we have to do something in order to ‘feel it’. Sometimes we have to ‘fake it til we make it’. You don’t feel the love for your spouse at the moment? Well, you aren’t excused, you still have to ACT the right way. You don’t feel like doing the work that needs to get done...tough, you still have to do it. And, what is such a great twist of irony is the fact that we typically start to FEEL it once we are actually doing it. It is a great life lesson.
Here, we see a reminder related to the second of those insights, that our actions can be a great mirror for our hearts. Do you silently celebrate when a rival fails? Do you silently do a fist pump when a you can tell that your spouse figured out that you were actually right about something, and has to suffer a feeling of defeat? Ouch! In the moment when you sense someone else’s defeat, or failure, whether at your hands or not, if I feel anything other than compassion in that moment, I have a heart issue.
Today, I am reminded to pay attention to what my heart is revealing to me. What do I feel in the little moments of my day? Because, what I feel is really indicative of whose I am, who I am serving, and where I need some work. My gut feelings are a mirror for my heart.
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By Steve AndersonAs I sometimes do, I am pausing on my reading of Daniel to just change the pace a little, from heavy vision-reading and to dig into a little of the timeless wisdom of Proverbs. Today I chose Proverbs 24, and what really jumped out at me this morning were verses 17 and 18:
17 Do not rejoice when your enemy falls,
and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles,
18 lest the Lord see it and be displeased,
and turn away his anger from him.
I am reminded that God is in the ‘heart’ business. Meaning, what I do is important, but the reason it is important is two-fold - (1) what I do directs what I feel ultimately, and (2) what I do is also typically a great cue as to what I feel.
Unpacking this a little...most of tend, by default, to allow our emotions to guide our actions. We do something because we feel like doing it. We say something because we feel like saying it. A wise person understands though, that often, we have to do something in order to ‘feel it’. Sometimes we have to ‘fake it til we make it’. You don’t feel the love for your spouse at the moment? Well, you aren’t excused, you still have to ACT the right way. You don’t feel like doing the work that needs to get done...tough, you still have to do it. And, what is such a great twist of irony is the fact that we typically start to FEEL it once we are actually doing it. It is a great life lesson.
Here, we see a reminder related to the second of those insights, that our actions can be a great mirror for our hearts. Do you silently celebrate when a rival fails? Do you silently do a fist pump when a you can tell that your spouse figured out that you were actually right about something, and has to suffer a feeling of defeat? Ouch! In the moment when you sense someone else’s defeat, or failure, whether at your hands or not, if I feel anything other than compassion in that moment, I have a heart issue.
Today, I am reminded to pay attention to what my heart is revealing to me. What do I feel in the little moments of my day? Because, what I feel is really indicative of whose I am, who I am serving, and where I need some work. My gut feelings are a mirror for my heart.