What To Do About Your “Grocery Cart” Heart!
Ever get one of those super bad grocery carts at the store?
You know the kind I’m talking about.
As soon as it starts rolling it wants to veer sharply to the left or right and if you let it up on the force you're using to make it go straight for even a second you smash into something.
Well, God says that's what our hearts are like.
Deuteronomy 4:9
Only be on your guard and diligently watch yourselves, so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen, and so they do not slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and grandchildren.
The phrase "be on your guard,” means to literally “put a hedge around something, to keep it within the boundaries.”
The word diligent here means “exceedingly, with much force.”
And the word forget here not only means forget but it also means ‘to mislay or misplace.” Or to “be oblivious to.”
The word slip means to literally or figuratively turn aside.
So we could paraphrase it like this:
Forcefully keep your heart within the bounds of remembering what God has done for you as long as you live, otherwise you will EASILY forget. And tell your kids and grandkids over and over how awesome God has been to you too!
It's so true isn’t it?
We can veer off focusing on how loving, powerful, and merciful God is and instead be overcome by our circumstances in a moment.
God actually reminds us to be diligent in this matter over and over again…(here are just a FEW)
Psalm 78:4
We will not hide them from their children but will declare to the next generation the praises of the LORD and His might and the wonders He has performed.
Proverbs 4:23
Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it flow springs of life.
Psalm 145:4
One generation will commend Your works to the next, and will proclaim Your mighty acts.
2 Timothy 1:5
I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am convinced is in you as well.
2 Peter 1:12–15
Therefore I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are established in the truth you now have.
I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of my body,
because I know that this tent will soon be laid aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me.
Psalm 119:11
I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against You.
Hebrews 2:1
We must pay closer attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.
Isaiah 38:19
The living, only the living, can thank You, as I do today; fathers will tell their children about Your faithfulness.
Joel 1:3
Tell it to your children; let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation.
Make sure you catch the theme:
Remember. Guard. Repeat. Tell it the next generation.
Over and over and over again.
Because God KNOWS if we are not extremely intentional, we drift. And it happens FAST.
Because our hearts, left unattended, will ALWAYS veer.
Just like a bad grocery cart.
You don’t have to TRY to drift but you do have to DECIDE not to.
All you have to do is just… ease up on the pressure.
You stop rehearsing what God has done.
You stop speaking it out loud.
You stop reminding yourself of His faithfulness.
And before you know it, your thoughts are dominated by fear, frustration, distraction and what isn’t working.
You slam into the shelf.
You bump into discouragement.
You start interpreting your life through your circumstances instead of through the character of God.
So what do we do?
We get INTENTIONAL.
We remember and remind ourselves about the GOODNESS of God. (a song that always makes me cry by the way)
We write it down.
We say it out loud.
We tell our kids.
We tell our friends.
We remind ourselves even when we don’t feel like it.
David did this all the time in the Psalms!!! He tells his heart and soul what to do and how to feel.
He tells God how he’s feeling but he does not stay there. He redirects his heart and soul back to remembering how good and perfect God is.
Psalm 42:5
Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.
Your story of God’s faithfulness is meant to outlive you.
The prayers He answered.
The ways He carried you.
The miracles, the provision, the strength you didn’t have on your own.
Those are not just for you to survive your season, they are seeds for the next generation.
But they only become seeds if you SAY THEM.
If you TELL THEM.
If you REFUSE to let them be misplaced.
So today?
Grab the handles of your “heart” cart again.
Put some force behind it.
And choose on purpose to keep your heart in the boundaries of remembering His tremendous goodness and faithfulness. (especially now, right before we remember His death and resurrection)
Then do it again tomorrow.
Because it won’t stay there on its own.
In passionate purpose,
Dorothy
Have you grabbed my 5 day devotional?