I never got dressed yesterday. You wouldn’t know it though because, due to a massive headache, I just crawled into bed wearing the clothes from the day before. Then, last night, I decided I was too tired to make a change at that point. What I am trying to tell you is that I desperately need to shower this morning.

First, however, I want to share a verse with you that I have been pondering this week.

The King’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will. – Proverbs 21:1

It is easy to get caught up in the poetry and beauty of Scripture. Normally, I would read a verse like this one and get a pretty visual in my mind. Perhaps, I would see a trickling stream running through a forest. If all we ever get is a pretty picture in our minds, however, we are missing the point.

Go with the Flow

I’m no rocket scientist, but I play one in my homeschool room five days a week. One of the first things you learn in elementary school science is that water takes the shape of whatever is holding it. Think about that for a moment and read that verse again.

Do you see what I mean? Word choices in Scripture are not coincidences.

Our desire should be that our hearts be like water in the Lord’s hand. It should move when He moves and turn when He turns. Only then can we be completely used by Him.

The problem is that sometimes we allow our hearts to harden. Instead of a stream of water, we become a block of ice. This greatly limits our usefulness in the hand of God. If our goal, then, is to keep our hearts in the liquid form, we need to be aware of what causes them to harden.

Causes of a Hardened Heart

• Choosing worry over worship
• Disobedience
• Lack of prayer and Bible study
• Lack of accountability
• Failure to fellowship with other believers
• Judging others instead of examining ourselves

As I look over that list, I have to admit that I’m inwardly cringing. I know that a couple of those have caused the corners of my heart to begin hardening. Sometimes, we do not even realize our hearts have hardened until someone points it out.

Determine the Softness of your Heart

1. Are you open to the Lord changing your current life situation? (New location, new job, fostering children, working with the poor, etc.)
2. When is the last time you felt the Lord leading you in a certain direction?
3. Are you content leading a comfortable life?

I want to be used by the Lord. I don’t want to look back and see that I lived a safe, comfortable life. I want to have lived a sacred and courageous life. I want to be able to say that my heart was a stream of water in the Lord’s hand.