by Kathy Sinclair
Have you ever noticed that the Bible talks a lot about the heart? The kidneys, the liver or even the brain don’t get a look in, it’s all about the heart! The wisest man that ever lived, King Solomon, had this to say: “Above all else guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.”(Proverbs 4:23) He clearly thought the state of the heart was really important! So, what’s the big deal?
The Hebrew understanding of the heart was that it represented the very centre of your being, more than just physically, – it represented the very essence of who you are as a person, the choices that you make, the way you behave and speak. Jesus picked up on the theme warning: “The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.”(Luke 6:43 -45).
I think what Jesus is saying, is that If we are unwise about guarding our hearts it can be difficult to control what comes out of us, the things we say, the person we become. So, if we allow resentment, grumbling, unforgiveness, indulging in gossip and so on, to build up in our hearts, sooner or later it will ooze out of us! We can put on a mask for so long, but who we really are will, as Jesus said, eventually show up, usually when we are under pressure!
Sometimes we see the truth of Jesus’ words in a sad way at BWAA, people have things stored up in their hearts through no fault of their own. Yan is a gorgeous Cambodian lady. Her family is now thriving due to the work of our partners, her children are going to school. However, when she was asked to write one of our “Hearts of Hope” cards for the year ahead, she broke down and sobbed! Poor Yan had so much pain stored up in her heart from her own broken childhood. Due to extreme poverty, she was abandoned by her mother and taken into another family who used her as a bonded slave, they didn’t even feed her properly. Eventually a kind lady bought Yan for the equivalent of $5 AUD. Yan never had the opportunity to go to school and is illiterate. Being asked to write, caused all the pain inside her to overflow! She was very fearful her children would have to leave school. Thankfully our partner’s have been able to re-assure Yan, that her children will receive a full education.
I wonder what is in your heart at the start of 2021. Coming off the back of a very difficult 2020, perhaps disappointment, worry, fear have crept into your heart? For each of us it will look different, but perhaps it’s time to do a heart check! Let’s take the words of Solomon seriously and seek to guard our hearts, asking the Lord Jesus to heal us and help us to be people overflowing with good things in a hurting world.
Kathy Sinclair is the BWAA Church Relationship Manager in Western Australia. Kathy joined Baptist World Aid in January 2019. She comes to the role having spent 11-years on staff at Mount Pleasant Baptist Church, Western Australia, as the Children and Families Pastor. In more recent years, she also held responsibility for overseeing the church’s mission ministry. Kathy has been a speaker for Christian Women Communicating Internationally (CWCI) for several years, where she enjoys the privilege of travelling around Western Australia to teach God’s word. She enjoys visiting church communities to share about the work of Baptist World Aid and how individuals and congregations can respond effectively to God’s heart for the poor and needy. Kathy is married to Mark and has two children and a daughter-in-law.
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