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Our hearts are not in our hands



As lockdown has worn on, there's been a renewed interest in emotions, both in the secular media and among Christians. In the last few days there have been a rash of articles on stress, anxiety and mood swings, tips on increasing our emotional intelligence, strategies for boosting mental health and observations that this is the biggest psychological experiment ever conducted. In many ways this renewed attention to EQ and self awareness is very helpful. We are being reminded that the most important things in life are not economic or educational. We are not 'human resources' or 'chemical robots.' And individualism clearly doesn't work. We are relational, interdependent, givers and receivers of love.
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself. (Matt 22:36-38)
Affections matter. "The great contest of heaven and earth is about the affections of the poor worm which we call man" (John Owen). "True religion, in great part, consists in holy affections," wrote Jonathan Edwards in a lengthy treatise (summarised by TGC) defending that statement.

Sidebar on affections

As I've written before elsewhere, what Edwards means by 'affections' is somewhat different from (though overlaps) the modern idea of emotion and mood:

  1. Affections are a deep movement of the soul towards or away from an object perceived. In other words we are attracted towards (love, desire, rejoice in) or are repulsed by (hate, flee, fight) something we are perceiving/encountering . In contrast, emotion (and especially mood) may well not be clearly related to any particular object, may be quite superficial and might even be stimulated simply by a glass of wine or chocolate egg.
  2. Affections can be holy or unholy. It depends on the object and our response. Holy affections are our hearts being drawn towards what is good/holy/heavenly/Christ, and being repulsed by evil/sin. In contrast, emotion and mood are neutral categories focused on the individual's experience rather than the nature of the object and the rightness/wrongness of our relation to it. 

What can we do about our affections? 

We can fight the fight for faith in these strange times, we can run to the Bible to encounter the living God, we can ground ourselves in the gospel, we can rejoice in Christ's resurrection life. But at the same time as that, and without wanting in anyway to undermine the call to struggle and fight and actively pursue joy in Christ, I want to add one simple thought today: ultimately, our hearts are not in our hands

Our hearts are not in our hands

You see this at the time of the book of Exodus in the Lord turning the hearts of the Egyptians to hate the Hebrews (Psalm 105:25) and then famously hardening Pharaoh's heart (Exodus 9:12). The Lord does the same to Sihon king of Heshbon (Deut 2:30) and promises that he will 'put the fear and terror of you [Israelites] on the whole land [of Canaan]' (Deut 11:25). In Joshua you see that happens as the nations 'melt with fear.' 
But very soon it is clear that the Israelites hearts are also in God's hands. He is the one true living God who is 'turning their hearts back again' (1 Kings 18:37). But later he is the one who, in judgment, is hardening their hearts (Isaiah 6:10, quoted x 5 in the NT).

Richard Sibbes is brilliant on this:

Christ hath our affections in his government. He hath our [heart] in his rule and government, more than we ourselves have. We cannot of ourselves rule our grief, shame, sorrow, or such affections as these, The wisest man in the world cannot [avert] grief and sorrow when God will turn it upon his [heart], and make a man ashamed and confounded in himself. All the wit and policy in the world cannot suppress those affections. For Christ rules our hearts, 'The hearts of kings are in his hand, as the rivers of water,' (Prov. 21:1), as well as the hearts of ordinary persons.
...If he will take away the reins from the soul, and leave it to its own passion, removing away its guard; for he by his Spirit guards our souls with peace, by commanding of tranquillity; so as let him but leave it to itself, and it will tear itself in sunder, as ...Cain also being thus left, was disquieted, tormented, and wracked himself (Gen. 4:13 cf. 1 Sam 16:14; 2 Chron 32:31). ...Let Christ but leave us to our own passion of sorrow, what will become of us but misery? He hath more rule therefore of our passions than we ourselves have, because we cannot rule them graciously, nor can we stay them when we would.
Therefore this should strike an awe in us of God... For there is not the wisest man in the world, but if he remove his guard from his soul, and leave him to himself; if there were no devil in hell, yet he would make him his own tormentor and executioner. Therefore the apostle makes this sweet promise. He bids them pray to God; 'and the peace of God which passeth all understanding should guard their souls,' (Phil. 4:7). So the word is in the original. It is a great matter for the keeping of God's people, to have their souls guarded. (Sibbes, Love of Christ, Sermon 9)
As Sibbes says, this should really awe and humble us. We are not God. We can't even control our own hearts. I think it's also a great comfort. When we are overwhelmed with our emotions, when we don't know what we're feeling, when our hearts and minds feel like complete chaos and confusion, there is one who perfectly knows our hearts and holds them in his hands. And it should surely also lead us to cry out in prayer.

Pray to the Lord of your heart!

  • Let's be praying for guarding - praying Psalm 141:4, that the Lord would not let our heart be drawn to what is evil. Let's be casting all our anxieties and burdens on him who cares for us and crying out for the peace and heart guarding we need. (See Piper on How God's Peace Guards our Hearts and Minds)
  • Let's be praying for inclining - praying Psalm 119:36, that the Lord would incline our heart towards his testimonies, that we would have a hunger for his Word, a desire to see Christ there, a heart to obey and please him. 1 Kings 8 is a great prayer on this too:
The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers. May he not leave us or forsake us, that he may incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways (1 Kings 8:57-58)
Amen.

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