Because of my desire to endure, I’m always trying to keep a realistic perspective.  In my attempts to do so, I’m aware that I can come across too conservative or too cautious.  Those two words (conservative and cautious), however, sound too soft for me and make it sound like I’m not a risk-taker, or that perhaps I could miss out on other opportunities in the process.  Here’s an example…  Suppose you’ve worked for a company for ten years and each year you’ve received a substantial Christmas bonus.  On top of that, each year your bonus becomes bigger and bigger.  This year your employer outperformed the market, increased market share, had greater profitability, and on top of that you exceeded your yearly quota by over 10%.  Taking the story a bit further… you’ve been inspired by Clark Griswald and you’ve taken out a loan (in anticipation to receiving your bonus in the mail) to build a family pool in the back yard.   Will you; a) be the father/husband of the year and build the pool, or b) be me.

My realistic perspective is “nothing is a sure thing”.  I think you remember how Clark’s story ended… but it was close!  While Clark may wear his emotions on his sleeves, I on the other hand wait until I see the cards fall for myself.  That doesn’t mean that I don’t have fun or get excited about anything, and quite contrary infact!  Ask my wife and friends and they will say I am a dreamer.  I aim high and I go all out!  I often times can’t fall asleep at night because I get so excited about my day dreams.  They are vivid and detailed, and while laying in bed my heart rate can race!  Again, Clark Griswald is emotion driven, but in these types of scenarios I tend to guard my heart and try to keep emotion out of the decision.

There are other examples that may better clarify my position, but the bottom line is that I act the way that I do because I don’t want to be broken hearted or disappointed in the end (or financially broke).  This topic seems to keep coming up and so I feel like I need to journal it.  I’ve got to guard my heart whenever I can.  In fact, the bible is very straight-forward about this;

Above all else, guard you heart, for it is the wellspring of life.

Proverbs 4:23

Why should we guard our hearts? Because our heart is WHO WE ARE, and the wellspring is WHAT WE DO.  By guarding WHO WE ARE, we guide WHAT WE DO in life.  We need to have awareness of the powers of evil.  Satan is out to draw us away from God, to thwart God’s purpose in our lives, to deny God the glory and honor he deserves, and to destroy us.  The heart is the center of emotion and will, as well as wisdom and perspective. We need to be constantly searching for a new perspective and we need to constantly be led by God. We need to be led by wisdom rather than by our emotions.  When we feel happy, sad, or whatever feeling, we need to be praising Him, asking for the direction of our next step, and hearing whatever perspective He is wanting us to understand.  If we give in to our emotions than we make ourselves vulnerable to sin because our decisions can come from our self-centered perspective, thus limiting God’s influence and allowing satan a small window of opportunity.  We were born into a war torn earth and so it should be no surprise that we’ll experience deception and therefore hardship.  The real question is “HOW WILL YOU RESPOND”?  You can turn upward to God, or you can turn inward toward yourself and leave yourself unguarded from the powers of evil.  I’ve just realized that although I keep a healthy desire for new perspective, I don’t praise God enough nor seek His guidance.  As a result, I run the risk of being intercepted and deceived by the devil that the best way is by my own power (wow!).

What should we guard our hearts from? We need to guard our heart in every aspect of life.  In our spending and finances, in our friendships and relationships, in what we read or hear, in how we spend our time and energy, in where we put our hope or identity, and in what we think makes us happy or sad.  The power of satan is everywhere.  It is so apparent that it is unapparent and normal.  We need to have discernment in everything we do.

How do you guard your heart? In Philippians 4:6-7, Paul says, “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  God needs to be protecting your heart from outside influences coming in, as well as, protecting everything that is going out of you.

How long do you guard your heart? We should be constantly guarding our heart.  Since our heart (who we are) is the wellspring of life (guides what we do), than guarding the heart should be a perpetual act.

Whether we choose to guard our heart, or not, has HUGE ramifications!  It will either paralyze us or liberate us.  We need to constantly be seeking the truth.  In the end, I hope my perspective makes sense.  I choose to make the decisions in my life and/or view things from a conservative perspectives so that I do not fall victim to a broken heart.  I don’t want surprises from the devil and I don’t want him anywhere in my life.  I must admit, however, that after writing this I am realizing how much more I need God in my life.  This is a war that I was born into and I don’t want to be blind to it or fall victim of it.  I want the truth.  He is the truth but why don’t I seek Him more often?  It’s an awesome relationship and I’m blown away that I don’t take the opportunity more often.