Follow Your Heart

The blessing of the LORD brings wealth,
   without painful toil for it. Proverbs 10:22

Today’s Reading: Proverbs 10-12; 2 Corinthians 4

The scripture above hit me like a ton of bricks.

The first thing that I thought was man… I’m going about this all wrong. Upon further reflection “all” is too strong a word. After all I have done some things right in my life. We all have.

But the thing that struck me about the verse above was “without painful toil”. I didn’t understand that. I mean what is life in this world without pain? What is toil without pain? How could this verse be true?

Back when I was in Jr. High this song by Method Man called “Bring the Pain” was super popular. When asked about why he talked about pain he said something to the effect that pain is universal. Everyone knows pain.

And that is true. We all know pain.

So what the heck is this verse talking about? I know that it is not saying we will never experience pain in our lives. But it is saying that the blessings of the Lord bring wealth without painful toil for it. Of course wealth doesn’t just come in the form of material goods but also wisdom, as well as emotional and spiritual well-being just to name a few.

And now it is coming together as I write these words. This is a final piece in the puzzle I have been putting together with all of these blog posts. I have talked a lot about purpose and staying true to the desires that God has put in our hearts. I have talked about staying focused and disciplined, persevering when times seem tough. But now I am seeing the piece that brings it all into focus.

The more obedient we are to the purpose for our lives, the easier life becomes. 

Much of the difficulty that we have in our lives is created by the choices we make. We are so focused on figuring out how to do things our way that we are blind to the fact that the ideal path is right in front of us. We would see it if we freed ourselves from the shackles of the mind, and started to look at our lives through the lenses of our spirit and heart.

You already know what you are supposed to do because it is the thing that you most deeply desire for yourself. It is the thing that you think is impossible, or are too afraid to try because you don’t know what failure would mean. It is the thing that would bring you into greatest harmony with the world and your spirit. It is the thing that will bring you the most life affirming joy.

Say yes to that calling. Obey its demands even if they seem impossible. Take bold steps into the desires of your heart even if you don’t know exactly where those steps will take you.

The path will be paved by grace. Before you know it, you will have achieved the dream that you thought was impossible and hardly broken a sweat along the way.