Heart versus Mind

One of the quotes I hear most these days is "Listen to your heart" or "Follow your heart." As a matter of fact I just did a cover the other day of a song called Listen to Your Heart. But should we actually listen to and follow our hearts? I don't think so. "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9) This is one of the first verses I ever learned in AWANA. But so often times we still listen to our hearts especially when comes to relationships. For me, when I like a guy, my heart tells me to run before I walk, and I can tell you, I already have a problem of falling way too hard, way too fast. My heart will tell me that he's perfect, he's the one. And when my head reminds me of the little things that might be an obstacle in our relationship, my heart simply tells my head to shut up and that love conquers all. In other words, my heart says go and my head says no. Typically for me, neither wins exactly. Obviously I'm still single and I've only dated one guy, so I've never had the guts to walk up to a guy I like and ask him out or anything, but on the other hand, that doesn't mean that I don't stop thinking about him.

So, I kind of thought up a little quote for myself. "My heart tells me to run cause he's the one, my head says be patient, honey, God will tell you if he's the one." Even today, I was thinking about a couple of guys I've kind of liked for a while. My heart kept telling me that they were perfect, but as I got thinking about it more, I thought of some things that quite honestly would probably drive me crazy if I was in a relationship with either one of them. It was just a reminder to not listen to my heart and go rushing into a relationship. Cause that's exactly something I would do. I'm the kind of girl who wants someone to hold my hand and cuddle with and all. So if a guy asked me out, I might not think about the consequences before I jumped into a relationship. It's just not God's time for me yet and I need to finally accept that, something I'm not always good at. Thankfully, God is patient and He'll keep pounding it into my stubborn head till it clicks.

The whole heart, head thing can relate to friendships or other relationships as well. Like when a friend asks you to cover for them while they do something you know is wrong. Your heart might tell you to do it, cause you're a loyal friend and you love them, but your head says no way am I doing this. Again, the heart isn't right.

Now I'm not saying that your head is always right and your heart is always wrong. Heaven knows there are probably about a million times when it was wrong or both were wrong. God is the only one who knows what is completely right and it's always best to take things back to Him. He'll always lead you in the right direction and He'll certainly never let you down.

So I guess I just want to encourage people to stay close to God and listen to Him. Don't let your heart or mind rule you and lead you astray. When it comes to relationships, look to God if he/she is the one, and above all else, be patient. Remember, our timing is not God's timing. Trust me, if things went by my timing, I wouldn't be single still. But just think, by waiting for God's timing, you'll know when you find the right person, instead of stumbling along wondering if every person you meet is the one.

This post was originally published on Saturday, April 20, 2011.