With All Your Heart

How much time do you spend looking in a mirror every day? If your a woman, it could be quite a while. Between, fixing our hair and make-up and then checking our clothes fit just right ... we might be in front of that mirror for an hour. When I was younger, my mother shared something with me that her Grandmother told her. It's a challenge. For every minute you spend looking in the mirror each day, spend two minutes looking in your bible. I know, you're thinking ... Might be kind of difficult when your juggling the schedule of a full time job, raising children and keeping house.

At the time, I didn't take the words to heart. However, a few years ago, I started thinking about this challenge. Did she really mean that I needed to spend twice as long reading and studying my bible? Or, was there a meaning that I had somehow missed? After considering these questions rambling in my mind, I picked up my bible and found the popular verse of Psalms 29:11 "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope."

This verse in Psalms is common among Christians. When I read this, I feel like I'm reading a promise directly from my heavenly Father. It lets me know that He hasn't forgotten me and that He has a perfect plan for my future.

Then, I read beyond that verse. Have you ever gone past this verse to read what follows in the next three verses? 12 "Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, says the Lord."

After reading those verses, I realized that the challenge did go farther than the amount of time in scripture and prayer. While the time is extremely important, the quality is profound. In your time with the Lord, are you seeking Him with all your heart? Do you seek Him out on a daily basis?

Since that time, I have found that my days are much better when started with my Father. I'm not certain that I've attained the double time of my Great Grandmother's challenge. But, I do know that I've changed the quality of that time.

These verses hold both encouragement and a promise. I love that I am told to seek my Father will all my heart and He promises I will find Him. Doesn't that do your heart good? These scriptures tell us that He knows us, has plans of peace for us and that we WILL find Him.

The secret is searching with all your heart. Where is your heart today? Is it lost in the battle of an overwhelming schedule? Maybe your heart is broken and weary from failures, disappointments or dreams that have gone up in smoke.

Whatever your broken heart needs, our Father is there in the midst of those discouragements to comfort you. He is ready and waiting for you to seek Him. Take that first step, open your bible to the wonderful promises of Psalms 29:11-14. Then, open the door to your heart and let the peace He provides wash over your soul.