By Ray A. Meyer
Heart trouble!
Hearing those words strikes fear in us. High blood pressure, hardening of the arteries, congestive heart failure--these conditions afflict millions of people.
Another kind of heart trouble afflicts humans too. Perhaps you and I are afflicted! Some of us may have a condition known as hard-heartedness.
A number of biblical personalities had heart trouble. Pharaoh continually hardened his heart and rebelled against God. His biggest problem seems to have been pride.
The prophet Elijah fled from Jezebel, even though he had seen God destroy the prophets of Baal. His problem seems to have been fear.
The disciple Thomas would not believe in Jesus' resurrection unless he could see the nail marks in Jesus' hands and put his hand in his side. His biggest problem seems to have been doubt.
Pastor Jack Hayford says that pride, fear and doubt are the three biggest monsters men have to confront to achieve spiritual health and growth.
In his book Pastors of Promise, Hayford lists three ways to deal with these issues.
1) Worship: This involves forthright, expressive praise and humility. Worship can break the back of carnal pride.
2) Prayer: Men praying together, openly sharing personal needs with face-to-face candor, can erode the barricades of fear that separate men.
3) Teaching: Focusing on tough issues guys struggle with, while calling for participation along the way, can demolish doubt and grow men of vital, practical faith.
We need to confront our pride, fear and doubt! We need to meet God in worship, prayer and the Word; and to do that in conjunction with other likeminded men.
What do we as men need to confront, confess and repent of? What related to pride, fear and doubt stands in our way? What kind of monsters do we need to slay?
When we addressed this issue at a men's ministry leadership conference last fall, we filled a board with monsters of pride, fear and doubt that need to be slain.
By confronting pride, fear and doubt, men of God can slay these monsters. Men of God will be victorious by participating in wholehearted worship, prayer and receiving the teaching of the word of God. Our spiritual health, growth and maturity depend on it.
The Holy Spirit is the agent of change that works in us to conform us to Christ.
God wants our hearts. He can heal us of heart trouble. He wants us to love him and serve him with our whole hearts. And he wants us to love our brothers as ourselves.
Shaquille O'Neal was at one time the center of the Orlando Magic basketball team, but for various reasons, he became unhappy with his situation in Orlando.
The Orlando Magic owner considered many ways to make Shaq happy, and get him to stay in Orlando.
Ultimately, however, the owner realized it was not to be. "If we can't have Shaq's heart, we don't need Shaq's body," he said. Shaq was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers.
God wants our hearts and our bodies--they are the temple of the Holy Spirit.
God wants us to love him with our hearts, souls and minds. This indeed is the cure for heart trouble. The love of God will slay the monsters of pride, fear and doubt.
Feb. 24, 1998, WN, page 18
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