Ephesians 1:18, “so that, with the eyes of your heart
enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are
the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints.”
When devastation of any kind hits we tend to shut down.
Acute stress response according to medical experts can be reactions such as
fight, flee, fix, freeze, or faint. And stress can happen on a daily level
within relationships. All of these reactions touch our emotional core and usually
the next step in a pro-active choice is to fix it or repair or make a plan to
re-build. Not emotional—logical.
We look with our eyes at the damage both short term and long
term and initiate plans with determination and will power. And often skip over
the heart because the immediate pain may be too difficult to face.
Yet that is exactly where the Lord wants us to begin—with the
eyes of our heart. To first recognize that His love and mercy never end and are
just as present today as yesterday and will be there again tomorrow.
Then to first choose love and mercy in healing before
building new foundations that could still harbor anger and bitterness and
hardheartedness within the core.
Nehemiah is well known for rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem
and confronting severe opposition from enemies, including those within his own
countrymen. Yet before he even began the vision he spent long months in prayer
seeking God’s word first. Seeking God Himself. Trying to see through his own heart
so as to match with the Lord’s version of inheritance.
A few months ago I heard a speaker give a church family of
faith the same version of reactions to stress as the medical field did, but he
added the most important other option: FAITH.
Psalm of Worship: Psalm 94:14
“For the Lord will not abandon His people,
Nor will He forsake His inheritance.”
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