Follow Your Heart by Steve McVey P lease pray for us that we will know the right decision to make, Larry asked the small group that met in his home. We believe that taking the job I ve been offered in Dallas is the right thing, but we want to make doubly sure we aren t missing God s will. You know how deceptive the devil can be. I don t want to be misled by him. The way he deceives us sometimes is so insidious, and I don t want to be fooled. We know he is cunning, and we really want to hear from God on this situation. As Larry talked, it began to sound like the time had been set aside to honor Satan himself. More was said about the devil s ability to mislead us than anything else. Of course, there is no doubt that Larry s sincere desire was to know and do God s will, but listening to the way he talked, you d think that the ability of the enemy to deceive us is greater than God s ability to keep us in His will. Larry is no different than many Christians today. They live a life filled with fear that they re going to do the wrong thing. They tiptoe through this world like scared little kids in a haunted house. I meet them all the time. They say, Steve, pray for me. Pray that I won t miss the will of God. Or, Satan is so powerful and so deceptive. 28 THE PLAIN TRUTH
As Larry talked, it began to sound like the time had been set aside to honor Satan himself. More was said about the devil s ability to mislead us than anything else. Pray for me. I don t want to miss the will of God. Or, I want to stay in the center of God s perfect will. I can be deceived and make a mess of my life if I go out there apart from God s will. They go on and on about the ability of the enemy to deceive them. When they do make decisions, they re so scared they re going to miss God s will that they re always timid, tentative and unsure. When it comes to making decisions regarding God s will, many Christians seem to abandon faith altogether. Instead, they express great fear that they re going to miss his will. Their fear so handicaps them that they sometimes do practically nothing of any real spiritual significance. They d rather do nothing than take the risk of making a mistake. The Trap of Analysis Paralysis Believers who fall into this kind of thinking are victims of one of the enemy s greatest weapons analysis paralysis. I don t know who coined that term, but it clearly describes how many people live their lives. But the solution to the problem isn t complicated. Grace never is, if we will just accept the simple truth. Think of it this way: Imagine that you re standing in the center of a large field. You can see the horizon all around you in every direction. Ahead, you can see the Larry is no different than many Christians today. They live a life filled with fear that they re going to do the wrong thing. ocean, with the waves lapping up on the shore. Off to one side, in another direction, you can see a mountain range with snowcovered peaks. Behind you is a meadow filled with wildflowers, and you see the breeze gently blowing across the field. To the other side of you is a forest, where you can see the sunlight filtering down through the trees. There s a different scene in every direction. You know that somewhere off in the distance is the place God has for you, where his perfect will for you can be found. But how can you know that place, and how can you get there? With virtually infinite choices, how can you know the one place God has planned for you? Some people would stand in that one spot in the field for the rest of their lives because they re afraid. They believe there s one spot God wants them to be, and if they miss that one spot, they will be out of the will of God for the rest of their lives. They hold this legalistic mind-set, believing it is entirely up to them to find out what God s will is. Why do you call that legalistic? you might ask. In answer, let me remind you of the difference between law and grace. Under the system of legalism, we make spiritual progress or gain God s blessings based on what we do. That s law. On the other hand, grace says that God will bless us because we are in Jesus Christ, who has already done everything and for no other reason at all. That s grace. Legalism insists that knowing and doing the will of God is all up to you. It says, Yes, you d better weigh out all your options, because you don t want to miss the will of God. You d better make sure because, of all the places you could go, there s only one right place for you. And if you miss that, you may have to settle for God s secondbest or worse! You may go north when you should have gone east, and you ll be out of God s will. Or you might go north when you should have gone south, and boy! then you will be in the exact opposite place from where God wants you! You d better find the exact center of God s will. You d better seek it out and find it, and you d better do it right! That s a mind filled with le- Their fear so handicaps them that they sometimes do practically nothing of any real spiritual significance. They d rather do nothing than take the risk of making a mistake.
Maybe you ve experienced fear-driven analysis paralysis, and you ve been out in the middle of the field for years, petrified. You ve not moved in any direction, because you re afraid you re going to make a mistake. galism doing the talking. And assuming we can find the one right choice, by what power can we then do it? Legalism always puts the entire burden on us. Maybe you ve experienced feardriven analysis paralysis, and you ve been out in the middle of the field for years, petrified. You ve not moved in any direction, because you re afraid you re going to make a mistake. Nothing great has ever been accomplished by those who are dominated by fear. Fear is the opposite of faith, and it paralyzes us. That s why it is one of Satan s greatest weapons against the Christian. When motivated by fear, not only are we driven away from trusting in Christ, we lose our ability to reason and to think clearly. Either we tend to do foolish things, or we are paralyzed and do nothing. Either way, the devil has made us ineffective. The prayer request Larry shared with his small group sounded spiritual, but his strong emphasis on the enemy s ability to deceive betrayed his underlying fears. To confidently move toward fulfilling God s plan for him in a way that would bring a sense of joy, even a sense of divine destiny, Larry needed to let go of his hidden worries about missing God s will, which seemed to consume him, and get on with the business of trusting his heart and doing God s will. Choose to Live by God s Resources Given that God offers us himself through the indwelling Holy Spirit, and given the promises Christ has made to be our sufficiency for living, the thing you might need to do is simple: Move out. Move out in faith. Just do it. Fear continues to whine, But what if I make a mistake? Legalism declares that it s all up to you to find the exact right thing God has for you, the exact right place. Unbelief suggests that God hides his will from you, works at making it hard for you to find, and then blames you for not finding it. How can we respond to this lie? We can confront it boldly. What an insult to the Holy Spirit who lives in us, to give in to that nagging sense of unbelief! What an insult to the indwelling Christ who guides us, and who has promised never to leave us or forsake us! What an insult to the sovereign God, who oversees everything that happens to us in every circumstance of life! You Can Follow Your Heart This all sounds a little scary to me, Rachel said to me after hearing me teach on this subject. I think following our hearts can be a dangerous thing. Why? I asked. Because the Bible teaches that the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, she answered. Yes, but where is that found in the Bible? I m not sure. I think in Jeremiah. Rachel, you re right, I contin- You d better find the exact center of God s will. You d better seek it out and find it, and you d better do it right! That s a mind filled with legalism doing the talking. THE PLAIN TRUTH
ued. It s in Jeremiah 17:9, but the important thing about that verse is in what part of the Bible it s found. What do you mean? she asked. I mean it s in the Old Testament and is a verse that doesn t apply to you as a New Testament Christian. But it s in the Bible, she pointed out. Yes, it is, I replied, but to properly understand the Bible it is important to know that, while all of it is for us, not everything said in it is about us. You don t have a wicked heart now. You used to, but God took care of that problem when you trusted him for salvation. What the Scriptures Say About Your Heart Rachel struggled with my suggestion that her heart wasn t evil until we discussed what the Bible goes on to say about the matter. Are you under the same impression she was? Do you believe your heart is deceitful and wicked? If so, I have some good news that is going to set you free from that kind of thinking. Look at this passage in Ezekiel 36:26-27 (NASB): I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. Remember that in the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit came upon people, but didn t live in them. But the promise of God to his people under the Old Covenant was that a day was coming when he would give them a new heart by placing his Spirit inside them. Has that day come yet? Consider yourself and your relationship to God s Spirit. Where does he live today? He lives in you! Yes, that day has come! When Jesus Christ died and rose again, the New Covenant became effectual. (See Hebrews 10:12-18 for confirmation of this.) The Spirit of God doesn t come upon you like he did in the Old Testament times. Instead, he has taken up permanent residence inside you, where he will abide with you forever (see John 14:16). God has done in you exactly what he promised through Ezekiel that he would one day do. He has put his Spirit within you and has taken away that old, deceitful, desperately wicked heart. He has given you a new heart that yearns to honor him! What Do You Want? Let s go back to our illustration of the person standing in the middle of the field, this time choosing to view it from a grace perspective. Some people, still motivated by fear, say, I ll start by going in this direction. Pray for me, though. I m going to take a step, but pray for me. I m scared I m going to miss the will of God. Pray for me that He ll protect me. O Lord, I m going to go this way. Stop me. Please stop me if it s not right. Pray for me, friends. They move forward with a very tentative, timid, overcautious attitude. That s not a grace walk. Grace reminds us that everything regarding our lives is God s responsibility. Again, the truth about knowing God s will is this: It s not up to you to find it. God will make his will known to you as you abide in Jesus Christ. Some Christians think they have to listen hard enough to hear God. There it is one more time! Legalism, telling me what I must do. I have to listen hard enough! But grace takes the burden off me. Grace says, You don t have to listen hard enough; God will speak loudly enough. You can be sure of this God is quite capable of...while all of [the Bible] is for us, not everything said in it is about us. You don t have a wicked heart now. You used to, but God took care of that problem when you trusted him for salvation. SUMMER 2010 31
When you were choosing, who do you think led your thoughts and chose through you? I knew that palm tree and hammock would get you! The outcome of this wasn t you. It was all me. speaking loudly enough to be heard. How does God speak to us concerning His will? In our previous chapters we saw how God uses other Christians, circumstances and the Bible to speak to us. Actually, there is no limit to the number of ways God can communicate with us. But there is a way God commonly uses to speak to us that many Christians don t recognize. God often speaks to us through our own desires. Remember the field? Imagine yourself again standing out in the middle of it, where you can see in all directions. This time, picture Jesus standing there with you. Jesus says to you, There s a place I want you to go. Look around you. You see the beach over on one side, the mountain range on the other side, the meadow over there, the wooded forest opposite. Then Jesus says, There s a place I want you to be. Where is it, Lord? you ask. Look around, He says. What interests you? Wow, you reply. I like the beach. I ve always loved the ocean. 32 You like that? There s a lot of territory in that direction. What about it do you like? Well, I like that cluster of palm trees, and I like the hammock hanging there between those two trees that are reaching out toward the beach and the ocean. That s the place you like? Jesus asks. Then run to it. Take off go! Run with all your might! Now picture yourself taking off, running with carefree abandon, as fast and furiously as you can toward the palm trees on the beach. And as you run and get closer, you see someone lying in that hammock. Then he stands up, and you can see that it s Jesus. There he is ahead of you, and he s shouting encouragement and laughing,...there is a way God commonly uses to speak to us that many Christians don t recognize. God often speaks to us through our own desires. Come on! Run! Come to me! Run! You run to him and to the place you ve chosen. When you get there, Jesus throws his arms around you, sweeps you off your feet, and laughs as he spins you in a circle. I m glad you re here! I ve been waiting for you. He puts you down, and you say, Jesus, how did You know? How did I know what? That of all the directions I could have gone, of all the places I could have picked, how did you know I d come to this exact place? Jesus just looks at you and says, Who do you think put the desire in you to come this way? Who do you think caused you to like the beach, or the meadow, or the woods? When you were choosing, who do you think led your thoughts and chose through you? I knew that palm tree and hammock would get you! The outcome of this wasn t you. It was all me. Do you get it? Do you understand how God s will can be accomplished in your life? It s not up to you to find and fulfill God s will for your life. Your only responsibility is to rest in Christ, and allow him to be who he is in and through you. Taken from Walking in the Will of God. Copyright 2009 by Steve McVey. Published by Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, OR. Used by permission. Steve McVey is the President of Grace Walk Ministries, a discipletraining ministry in Atlanta, Georgia, as well as a sought-after leader of Grace Walk conferences. Steve and his wife, Melanie, have four children. ONLINE INTERVIEW AT PTM.ORG www.ptm.org/mcvey In Grace on Trial Greg Albrecht and Steve McVey take us back to radical grace the roots of the gospel. Don t miss this podcast, as Greg and Steve expose the guilt and shame of religion, contrasted with the beauty and truth of God s amazing grace.