An undivided heart
Martha Olawale
“Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.” Psalm 86:11
Give me an undivided heart? How can I have an undivided heart in a world of many daily choices? As I read this verse in Psalm, I paused and pondered it for a while. God is not kidding or willing to share my heart with anything or anyone; He wants all of it.
I love my husband, my kids, my family, my Church, my friends, and the people God brings my way as I journey through life, but all the love I have for them is in a pile resting on the foundation of where my passion lies: in Christ alone. While my heart seemed drawn in different directions, it’s imperative to make sure it draws from a single source. Every emotion I feel, anger, pain, loss, joy, peace, should find wholeness in God.
With this realization, it is imperative that we squint through the mirror of our lives to see where we have allowed things other than God to take precedence. Have I divided my heart into smaller sizes and justified giving God the larger portion of it as if it were mine? God is not asking us to make Him our best of all; He is asking us to make Him our all in all.
An undivided heart is rooted in the fullness of God’s love and trust in Him. It is a heart that longs for its maker in hope, knowing that He is always there. A heart that is panting after God to see Him magnified in all areas of life. It’s a heart that relies absolutely on its creator for sustenance. It is poor and needy, always asking for God’s help. David said in the first two sentences of Psalm 86, “Hear me, Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. Guard my life, for I am faithful to you.”
The beauty of our life and its worth lie in our willingness to give it back to God, and it starts with our hearts. Proverbs 23:26 says, “My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes find happiness in my ways.” All our ways must be His way. God is not saying, sit in a room and chant God, God, God. He is saying as we go about our days, laughing, eating, talking, learning, teaching, and living the life He blessed us with, we should do it all in honor of Him, remembering that everything is enclosed in His love for us.
