I spend a lot of time in my own head. Obsessing. Analyzing. Wrestling with truth. Stressing about life. Too often, it’s where I hold my faith as well. My beliefs. My compass. It’s hard for me to shake loose from this, but it is important that I do.

Isaiah 46:8 – Remember this, fix it in mind, take it to heart…

Isaiah 51:7 – Hear me, you who know what is right, you people who have my law in your hearts…

Isaiah 59:12 – For our offenses are many in your sight, and our sins testify against us…fomenting oppression and revolt, uttering lies our hearts have conceived.

2 Corinthians 3:3 – You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

God calls rather clearly for us to gain freedom from our minds and feel our faith. To exist in the heart instead. It’s when we get our hearts right that we achieve greater peace in Him, not when our minds have it all worked out. In the mind, we can debate and defend our faith, but only in our hearts can we prove it.

On the way home today from a relatively unsuccessful family day out at the park, my wife and I were talking. As we drove by massive homes and sprawling estates, I remarked that even though I know money doesn’t cure all worries, I’d be interested to just know what it felt like to have the financial security the owners of these homes must enjoy. After a philosophical debate on the issue, she said that in the end it’s all about getting your heart in the right place. That’s what will make you happy.

She’s right. And I spent a lot of time today unhappy because I was once again living in my head, letting every minor inconvenience bend me out of shape. The perfect afternoon I had developed in my mind wasn’t happening just as I imagined, and from there, things quickly unraveled. Most times when I look back at situations like this, I made things worse because I was operating from my head and not my heart.  Many times when I’ve betrayed my faith, it isn’t because I didn’t “know” what to do, but because I “chose” not to do it. I let my thoughts dictate my actions instead of letting my heart guide them.

On the heels of my wife’s point of view today, I stumbled upon these verses which I had scribbled down in my notebook months before. They were just waiting for the right moment to resonate. The mind can be a prison. Thinking can suffocate feeling. And the shallow nature of thought will never bring the same peace as the depths that exist within the heart.  I encourage you all to stop trying to get your minds right and instead focus on your heart. If you center yourself there, good thoughts, happiness and freedom will follow.