Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.–Proverbs 4:23

Some people claim that the way to victory is to “Just let go and let God”. They claim that spiritual progress requires no self-effort, just faith in God. That, however, is theory, not truth. A. W. Pink said,”As well might a poor man expect to be rich in this world without industry, or a weak man to become strong and healthy without food and exercise, as a Christian to be rich in faith and strong in the Lord without earnest endeavor and diligent effort. It is true that all our labors amount to nothing unless the Lord blesses them (Ps. 121:1), as it also is that apart from Him we can do nothing (John15:5)”.That is in keeping with what the Bible teaches clearly and repeatedly. Although every step of progress is to be attributed to God, He requires effort on our part. We are to “put off” and “put on” certain things (Eph. 4:21-24). We are to be active rather than passive. We must do what we can before we can expect God to do what we can’t.

So, let’s focus on where our focus should be. We must get to the heart of the problem, which just happens to be the problem of the heart. It is from there that all the issues of life proceed. If the heart is neglected all else will be affected. As the heart is the center and fountain of physical life, so it is spiritually. If the heart be wrong so will the life. What the heart is the person is. Keeping it is essential to all else– and that is a full-time job! We dare not let our guard down for a moment lest Satan get the advantage of us. As the old Puritan John Flavel said,”The keeping and right managing of the heart in every condition is the great business of a Christian’s life”. How true! If we fail here we fail everywhere.

If we fail to keep the heart our mind will be polluted, our will be weakened, temptation will overwhelm, lust will prevail, sin will conquer, and our character will unravel. So, this is not a matter that we can take or leave. We either keep the heart or face a fall— a crushing defeat. Your safety and happiness depends on your attention to your heart’s condition. Failure here leads to failure everywhere. This isn’t something someone else can do for you. Others might feed you, heap riches upon you, tend to your needs, and assist you in numerous ways, but when it comes to keeping your heart you must do it for yourself—it is your responsibility. –HDS

—-what I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.–John 13:7

You’ve heard it said,”When you can’t trace His hand, trust His heart”, but we often fail to do as we say. We know we are to “walk by faith, not by sight”, but we often do the latter. We call ourselves “believers”, but sometimes we are doubters. And, since without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6) this is a major mistake not a minor matter. It is an awful insult to God when we fail to trust Him. We ought to do better! But,to do better we have to recognize some things.

God is at work, He always is, in ways far beyond our ability to understand. That is to be expected –do you really think that we ought to know everything about God? But, to avoid panic we must remember that His ways are perfect and that bye and bye we will shall understand. Knowing we shall know brings peace to our heart. This simple fact changes our feelings. Here we are–
–confused, hereafter we will comprehend
–burdened, hereafter we will be blessed
–grieved, hereafter we will be glorified
–in persistent pain,hereafter we will have permanent pleasure

The difference between here and hereafter is huge– more than the mind can presently imagine!
Here we question–hereafter we will acknowledge His works
Here we doubt–hereafter we will admire His wisdom
Here we complain–hereafter we will adore His ways
Here we resist–hereafter we will accept His will

Hereafter we will see that God was right and we were wrong. Hereafter we shall not have any questions, doubt, or complaints– we will be at perfect peace for all eternity. And it’s not just the fact that bad things come to an end that is so thrilling, it’s also about seeing how God used the bad for good. In other words, we will see that in a strange way that we could have never seen before, that even the the painful problems we so despised were necessary. Here we wonder why God permits sin, suffering, and pain. Hereafter we shall see that it all was needful to the completion of God’s eternal purpose. I can live with that! –HDS

—-Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?–Genesis 18:25
This is a question that relates to many varied experiences that men go through. There are miseries that seen too heavy to bear and mysteries that are far to hard for us to solve. Numerous things in life seem unfair and unprofitable, and we wonder why and how a loving God would force them on us.

This is a question that should be easy to answer. Since God is righteous, perfect in every way, He cannot but do that which is right. We might not understand it, but we can rest assured that God will never do wrong.

This is a question that implies great truth about God. He is a judge, the Judge,” the Judge of all the earth”! He is not some local deity conjured up in the mind of puny man, nor one of the many gods of this wicked world. He is “the Judge of all the earth”—the One to whom we all are accountable!

This is a question we should remember. Things will happen that will rock your world, cloud your mind, break your heart, and depress your spirit—things you cannot comprehend, change or control. Things happen that prompt us to ask “Why?”, “Why this?”, “Why me?”, “Why now?”. We all experience things that cause pressure to mount–sometimes to the point that we even question God. It’s then that we are in desperate need of remembering who He is—“the Judge of all the earth”. So, who are we to question Him? He has all authority–shall we challenge Him? He has infinite wisdom–should we question Him? He is perfectly holy–dare we accuse Him of being wrong or unfair? He rules “all the earth”–should He not rule over us? He is “the Judge of all the earth”–shall we judge Him?

We have misjudged Him many times before, shall we do it again? Will we never learn? Do not be led astray by your feelings. Simply trust God to do as He has promised. He will never fail you. As someone said,”Wait, till the last chapter is written. God hasn’t made His first mistake. When we are able to see things from a clearer perspective, we will realize that the Judge of all the earth has done right”.–HDS

John Oxenham wrote:
“God writes in characters too grand
For our short sight to understand;
We catch but broken strokes, and try
To fathom all the mystery
Of withered hopes, of death, of life,
The endless war, the useless strife,–
But there, with larger, clearer sight,
We shall see this–His way was right.”