I cannot see into the future any more than I can see inside of someone’s heart. But if you could listen in on my thoughts sometimes, you would think I could do both.
I imagine ways I can fix things in my life. It leads me down the trail of “if only” where I always factor in the way someone else could make my life better if only they would change.
Invariably, this makes me think about what is going on inside their heart as I imagine how they feel about me.
If I wasn’t so frustrated, I would laugh at myself when I do this. After all, I know for a fact that I don’t know what tomorrow brings.
I also know that I’ll never be able to truly understand how someone else is feeling or what their motives are.
God has given us an amazing promise when He told us in Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”
That really should be all I need to hear.
But somehow, I forget time and time again that I’m not actually the one in charge of my life.
I look at how things are going and clearly see that what I want isn’t exactly happening.
Could it be that He knows more about my needs than I do? Of course He does! But that doesn’t stop my human mind from fretting about not getting what I want.
And when I fret, I tend to mull things over in my mind until I’ve thought through every possible scenario and accomplished absolutely nothing.
I walk away from these mental sessions feeling a whole lot of worry and very little peace even though I know it doesn’t have to be this way.
After all, I have been instructed very plainly in Philippians 4:6-7 where I’m told “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Isn’t it amazing that God knows my future yet still encourages me to come to Him with my requests? He doesn’t need me to ask for what He already knows I need, what He already knows is in my future.
No, He wants me to ask so He can replace my worry with His peace.
Sometimes I get what I want.
That person who I have been worked up over, due to a lack of communication, suddenly reaches out to me. With just a few words, I find myself smiling again, happy that our relationship isn’t in the bad shape I thought it was in.
It takes so little to offer me that sense of relief.
Proverbs 12:25 explains this to me where I’m shown that “Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.”
Related: 5 Verses from Psalms for Anxiety
If one or two words from a loved one can bring me so much joy, how much more is mine for the taking just by reading the Word of God?
I read how Jesus, who clearly does know both the future and what lurks inside of everyone’s heart, was mistreated.
I read how He reacted to those who did things that definitely would have hurt my feelings.
But Jesus gave me the ultimate example when He loved those whose goal seemed to be only to hurt Him. He showed me how there is only one place to turn when He called out to the Father.
I want to fix things. It’s who I am. My name actually means “helper” which has always made me smile because it 100% describes who I am.
But I can’t always help, can’t always fix. That’s because it’s not my job to do more than I’m allowed to do.
When worry tries to replace hope, I need to remember what I’ve been told in Matthew 6:27 when Jesus asks, “And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?”
When I so clearly can see how everything “could” be “if only” certain things were in place, I need to think back on the truth of God telling me in Isaiah 55:8a-“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways..” which clearly relieves me of the responsibility of fixing everything.
I’ve been given my marching orders. I’ve been told what the greatest commandment of all is when Jesus told me in Matthew 22:37b to “love the Lord your God with all your soul and with all your mind” before instructed me that a second commandment, found in the 39th verse of the same chapter, reminds me to “love your neighbor as yourself.”
It seems it’s simply a matter of focus.
If my heart is in tune with His, I will love others.
If I want what He wants, I will think less about what I want and more about how I can bless someone else.
If I am focused on seeing others the way Christ sees them, I will actually have what I thought I needed all along.
I will see that the future is about sharing the love of God, not about getting my own way.
I will see that deep in the heart of someone else, all they need is to feel the love, joy, and peace that can only come through a relationship with Jesus.
With my thoughts on eternity instead of the brief time of here and now that so easily consumes me, I will find myself richly rewarded by the Lord.
After all, He has told me He knows the plans for my future. He has assured me that I don’t need to worry about a thing. And He has given me permission to bring my cares to Him because He knows that I need a place to cry out, a place to vent all my concerns.
When something happens in my life that makes me sad or makes me wonder if things will ever be okay, I’m so grateful to know that God has already made a way for me, that He already sees my entire future.
When I start to focus on what is inside someone else’s heart, I’m grateful that God gently reminds me to look within my own.
The only way I can do this is by using the Bible as a mirror. God will show me where I’m not like Him.
“God, see what is in my heart. Know what is there. Put me to the test. Know what I’m thinking. See if there’s anything in my life you don’t like. Help me live in the way that is always right.”
Psalm 139:23-24
