I’m staring month 11 squarely in the face now, as we have exactly 15 days left on the Race…where did the time go?
Life happens everywhere, and as I reflect I realize that my home is where my heart is. It’s a cliche saying, but it’s true. I’ve laid my head down in 11 countries on countless beds, airport terminals, train seats, and bus windows. All with the peace of the Lord knowing that it doesn’t matter where I lay my head, but instead it’s the posture of my heart.
In the Bible there is SO much emphasis on the heart. It says in Jeremiah 17:9-10 that God searches a man’s heart, and that the heart is deceitful and desperately sick, meanwhile in Psalm 51:10 David asks for God to GIVE him a clean heart.
I’ve come to realize that no matter where I am, or what I’m doing whether it be glamorous or grungy, if my heart is securely tucked in the arms of my loving Heavenly Father then I’m at home. In his arms I find security, hope, and most of all, love.
I imagine Paul, in a dark, rat infested prison cell, singing praises to God. It’s obvious that his surrounding didn’t determine his actions and how he was doing that day. Instead his heart was secure in God’s love. It’s the same peace and security I’ve come to know while on the Race, and the same thing I’ll walk out the rest of my life.
I then imagine a rich young ruler dressed beautifully, surrounded by the best of the best of everything, walking with his head down, dejected. His circumstances, and his possessions decided who he was and how he was doing that day.
It all comes down to the heart. “Where your treasure is there your heart will be also.”
In this sense treasure doesn’t have to be a physical thing, many times it’s not. For example, many people hold their families as their ultimate treasure, and while that is commendable it’s not biblical. In Luke 14:26 Jesus said that you must hate your mother, your father or your children, and even your own life otherwise you can’t be his disciple. This can be easily misunderstood, but what he is actually saying is that we must love Him first, with all our heart. All good things come from him, family being one of them, so He is making a point to not get caught up on the things that are FROM him instead of actually HIM.
HE is my treasure, and He holds my heart. And for me, knowing that I have full access to this loving God has brought my own life more meaning than I have ever understood before.
It would be nice and neat to say that I have gone these whole 10 1/2 months knowing this truth and walking it out, but I haven’t. This was a journey, and a process and I’ve actually discovered this truth ON the Race. While on journeys we stumble sometimes and we can find ourselves wondering where we are or where we should go, but that’s all a part of it. That’s how I’ve walked out the race, and I’m so thankful that I’ve been on this adventure of the heart.
As I’ve said from the beginning, in one of my first blogs, this race wasn’t the peak of my life. I’m blessed to say I’ve done the Race, but the race that the Father has set before me is so much MORE! As I think about going home I look forward to hugs, happy tears, laughter, and good food, but my approach to life won’t be all that different than it has been on the Race. I don’t know where I’ll be, or what I’ll be doing, but I know that I’ll be at home with my heart snuggled tightly in the arms of the Father.
