We are rather fragile creatures. There is no superman capable of withstanding every form of abuse and torture men have devised. Our flesh is fallen and at some point each of us will break. The Scripture warns us that, while there is nothing really new under the sun, human evil is destined to deepen as we approach the end of God’s experiment here. There is no one to tell you the whole story, but we do have sufficient clues in revelation.
We take comfort in the biblical doctrine of election for this reason. The dead human spirit into which our Creator breathes His divine Presence will surely cross over death into eternal peace. We take comfort in the biblical doctrine of the blessings of God’s Laws: that if we obey His revelation, we can expect generally to avoid the worst things that happen to people in this world.
But even more, we take comfort in knowing the power of the heart-mind to withstand the weakness of the flesh.
Recent news stories talk about all kinds of efforts to control human thought directly via magnetic resonance, holograms in the sky, and any number of other intrusions into our consciousness. It’s men playing God, and God is not amused. All of this garbage, of course, excludes any notion of the heart-mind. This is the primary weak point, because your heart-mind is informed through the moral fabric. That is, if you choose to commit from the heart to God’s revealed character, your heart can retain a powerful link that no mere man can disrupt.
This is why we urge you to develop a conscious habit of deferring to your heart. It’s the spoiler against human evil, your own and that of others. It is the least predictable from the fleshly standpoint and the most powerful.
No, I won’t promise you that it will keep you sane under torture, only that it could. It depends ultimately on a power and will far outside human ken, but if there is anything that will carry you through the worst of tribulation, it is your heart. And the place you start is with testing your convictions, that collection of internal moral imperatives you already have. It is conviction that prevents doing things that might make sense rationally, but some part of you insists it’s not right for you. Conviction demands you do things that might not seem reasonable, but you cannot sleep if you ignore that voice. This is where you start to learn and trust your heart’s wisdom.
Even more difficult for some is that the inner voice seems to change with season and context, but in ways that your reason cannot approve. What is good and right today may well be wrong tomorrow; not universally but for you individually. Be prepared to hear that message inside you, because your mind is unfit to make such decisions. I realize that leaves the door open to what seems madness by most definitions, but without that possibility, you cannot reach the full measure of God’s power in you. He must be free to choose anything for you.
Indeed, I would suggest it’s better to go nuts chasing His heart than to stay sane as a mere human. You stand to gain Heaven and lose nothing more than this ephemeral existence here. Granted, when you first take this path, you may find much in your heart that isn’t pure, but you cannot purify your heart until you establish that conscious link. Whatever else is there, the Law of God is written in your heart.
(This is the best recording I could find for this song.)
Great post brother
Thanks Iain.