15 May | Youth
«I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel; my heart also instructs me in the night seasons.» Psalm 16:7
It's one thing to know what's right; it’s another to do it. Most of us know what is right. Our difficulty is to act according to our knowledge. Why does right seem so hard and wrong so easy?
The naked truth is that our heart is stubborn and obstinate. Although most people trust their heart, the Bible says it is deceitful. It emits false signals. Some even say, “I’m following my heart.” With this, they give emotions the dangerous status of supreme authority in decisions. However, the great truth is that every “healthy” heart is completely sick.
The term “deceitful,” which appears in Jeremiah 17:9, is the root of the name “Jacob,” which means “to grasp by the heel.” We all have a Jacob inside our chest! The words of a cartoon are true: “We have already met the enemy: it is us!”
When the heart is the driver of decisions, it manipulates our emotions. Emotions are important, but if they are in control, they become dangerous. God gave us emotions so that we would always use them under control and not so that they could control us. I know many young people who made some choices in the heat of the moment and regretted them bitterly.
The best things that the heart teaches us are learned in secret, because it is there that the Eternal tells us His secrets. With our hearts connected to God, we learn all the time, but this happens when the lights go out and everything around us becomes silent. In general, when we lay our head on the pillow, we can do some self-reflection and pray for strength to face life's turmoil.
Just as our existence is made up of small curves, when we review what happened to us each day, just before sleeping, we learn lessons that prepare us for new challenges the next morning. Life goes on!
Therefore, when faced with difficult decisions on the journey, be a good student in the school of your heart and always ask for help from the One who is a “Wonderful Counselor” (Isa 9:6).