Follow Your Heart?

I’ve always hated the phrase, “follow your heart.” Mainly because God tells us through His prophet Jeremiah that our hearts are one big wicked pile of messed up selfish motives and agendas (Jeremiah 17:9).

Jiminy Cricket’s advice to “let your conscience be your guide” has always been heretical to me.

This is good, solid, and wise. Yes, our hearts – left to themselves – are bad. Our conscience will guide us straight into an empty and black abyss, a pit of misery (“Dilly, Dilly!”).

But if we aren’t careful, we will ignore some things going on in our hearts to our own peril.

When I read a passage like Ezra 1 I have to check myself. I have to realign my previous held assumptions and convictions with what the Bible says.

Twice in the opening chapter of Ezra we are told the Lord puts things in people’s hearts. He leads people – through their hearts – to do particular things. Thus, if they didn’t “follow their hearts” they would have been in disobedience to the Lord. To put it simply, there are times we better follow our hearts.

First, Cyrus had it put in his heart by the Father to allow the Israelites to go back home (Ezra 1:1).

Second, the Lord put it in the hearts of Israel to go back to Jerusalem (Ezra 1:5).

They “followed their hearts,” and, thus, obeyed the Lord.

Was Jeremiah lying? Is Jiminy Cricket right? Should we do what Roxette suggests and “listen to our hearts”?

How do we know the difference between following a wicked pile of messed up heart and something the Lord has put in our hearts?

To be sure, it takes discernment and wisdom and insight and attention. Before you “follow your heart,” I would ask the following:

There are times when we need to run from our hearts. It can get us into some big-time binds. However, there are times when the Lord puts things on our hearts. We need to lean into those things and pursue them when the time is right.

Our Father isn’t out to confuse us. That’s not how He works. This tension is there because He doesn’t want us on autopilot. He wants us to seek Him and go with Him and follow His lead and be with Him. So, yes, listen to your heart. But don’t stop there. Listen for the voice of the Father as He meets you right where you need Him most.