An undivided heart

Andrea Delwiche

God’s faithfulness is a fact. It doesn’t change. What needs to change is our understanding of God’s faithfulness and living our lives under the reality of God’s faithfulness: “Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name” (Psalm 86:11).

How does God teach us? Through his Word, which has a description of what God’s character is. He also teaches us through our own experience and the experiences that we witness in the lives of other people.

But our hearts are divided; we don’t follow in the Lord’s way wholeheartedly. We tend to look to our own resources. We decide to abandon the well-marked path that promises to lead us to the foot of the spectacular waterfall and instead crash through the underbrush, trying to get there by approximation. Sometimes it works, but often it becomes just a matter of survival. 

The path of the Lord is a difficult path in some ways. But life is more difficult without Jesus. Think of the words of Jesus on the night he was betrayed: “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). By following God and learning to walk with his Spirit, we take advantage of the path that Jesus has already walked.

Under God’s guidance, we are capable of great things. It’s difficult to proceed without a reliable map or well-walked path. We accomplish good things by following God’s path. 

Teach us your way, O Lord. Give us undivided hearts.

Devotional used by permission of Time of Grace®. For more information, visit www.timeofgrace.org