I distinctly remember thinking when my son was being airlifted 2.5 hours away to a town I knew nothing about, they would fix him and he will be back safe in my arms tomorrow. Maybe I was delirious from the drugs. Maybe it was pure denial. What I didn’t know is it was his heart.
Without a functioning heart you do not live.
Your heart works every second of the day, never taking a break and yet until there is a problem it is not something we think about.
Without a heart functioning for Christ you do not live either. Sure, you can physically remain on this earth but you are restless. Discontent.
Have you ever met someone who is discontent with life?
For several summers in college I worked at the front desk at the Hampton Inn. I loved my job EXCEPT for one sign that read 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed. For most people this sign just reassures them, knowing if something goes wrong they have the opportunity to say something and we would willingly listen. Not only that, but we would try to make it better. However for a small group of people, this sign just meant, “if I complain after my stay I can stay for free.” Oh my, the complaints were unreal: chip in the bathtub, pool water not warm enough, highway too noisy, pillow too lumby, and the list goes on.
Our world has been running on a “right now,” instant gratification, and 100% satisfaction track. If you don’t like something just hop on any of the various platforms and tell the world about it. It doesn’t matter who you push down along the way. Why? Because it is your right to have everything your way, right away.
Listen up. This is NOT Burger King.
I do not want a Burger King life and neither should you. We should desire a fuller life. The only way to get this life is to go back to the heart.
King Solomon was the second son of King David and Bethsheba. He was known for his wisdom. He often prayed to God for wisdom and was granted time and time again. He said in
Proverbs 14:30
A heart at peace gives life to the body,
but envy rots the bones.
Our daughter often gets stuck in the cycle of discontentment. Whether it is a daddy/daughter dance she thought would go a different way or food ordered that comes out different than she had envisioned, she will allow one disappointment to ruin the entire experience. If this heart is left unchecked she will continue to allow this destruction. It will with time, affect not only her personal heart, but relationships.
How do we find peace and/or help others?
- Seek Christ.
It is through Him we are made new. It is through Him we find contentment.
Romans 12:2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
The ways of this world will never fill you. This is why some of the richest and most successful people in this world are still undeniably unhappy.
- Find one good thing in every situation.
Practice gratitude. No matter how much the situation sucks, you can ALWAYS find something of good. When we practice seeking out joy over discontentment our whole perspective shifts. All the time people are surprised that we have a son who has passed away. It comes as a surprise because we do not wallow in our grief everyday. We instead CHOOSE to find the joy in his short life. We CHOOSE to say, “thank you for giving me 52 days to be his parents.” We CHOOSE to remember the laughter we surrounded him with and the countless hours of getting to know his sweet spirit.
- Verbalize the joy.
2 Corinthians 4:15 “All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.”
When we then choose to SHARE our JOY and gratitude we are allowing others to see it within us and see it within themselves! Just as easy as it is to jump on the “complain about everything” bandwagon, it is as easy to spread HOPE.
Join me today in stopping the “Burger King way” within ourselves and our families, but instead seeking and sharing the way of the King. For without Him within our heart, we are allowing the world to control our most vital organ.
