But…

But…This one little word can totally change the outcome of a situation:

• Reveal a completely different motive for doing something
• Be a game changer…turn around the outcome of a situation
• Totally change the meaning or message being communicated

The heart rules.  It dictates actions to be carried out. The mouth speaks, but the heart determines our motives, our focus…our actions.

God spoke through the prophet Ezekiel to expose the hearts of His people, with the purpose of turning them around.  Turning them around to…worship Him with true and sincere hearts.

“My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to listen to your words, but they do not put them into practice.  With mouths they express devotions, but their hearts are____.” Ezekiel 33:31 How do we fill in the blanks?

When the heart acts out of devotion to God:

• Despair surrenders to hope
• Darkness yields to light
• The impossible fades as the manifestation of God’s handiwork emerges

When the heart acts out of devotion to self-gain, desire, or human reasoning, lives are ultimately destroyed.

Many years ago, my husband was transferred and we had to re-locate to a different state…Tennessee.   We had one weekend to find and purchase a home for our young family of four…or so we thought.

After two days of intense home searching, we finally agreed to put ‘earnest money’ down on a home.  In return route home, we both began to express the uneasiness of our hearts over the decision we had just made.  We realized that, although we initially prayed for guidance, we had succumbed to time pressure.  We had both ignored the warning of our hearts.  Praying with repentance, for specific guidance once again, we received our answer, and it cost us.  The answer was ‘no.’

My husband called the realtor and explained that we had made a hasty decision.  He told him that we made a mistake and believed the LORD was leading us differently.  We lost the earnest money, but found peace.  Instead of a house, we moved into an apartment.  Shortly after this, our home in Alabama sold for more than we originally agreed upon—the exact amount we had lost—without us raising the price (but, that’s another story!!) One year later, we moved into the home God made available and had planned all along.

Prayer: Examine our hearts O LORD.  Who are we truly devoted to?  Do our words match our hearts?  Is the meditation of our hearts truly focused on You?

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”

Proverbs 3:5-6

How has the LORD spoken to you?  Please share a time when God revealed to you that your heart and mouth were not speaking the same message.  Did God use someone to help you realize that?  Or, did you experience the consequence of a divided heart and mouth?

Nancy Thompson