Probing Proverbs 14:10 Each heart knows its own
bitterness, and no one else can fully share its joy.For the last 20 years of my father’s life I was not around most of the time. My wife and I were serving God in the Philippines. After I discovered he had cancer, I would ask each time I was back in the USA, “Do you want me to stay here with you?” My dad had served his country for over 40 years, so he understood commitment. He would smile, thank me and say no. God graciously allowed me to be with him when he died. It was the one night in hospice when I was the only one there. Everybody had been holding down the fort and was exhausted, so I volunteered to stay through the night. That night as I was holding him, he breathed his last!
How deeply my heart ached because I hate death, and I loved my “Pop”, as
I called him. At the same time I was possessed by such a joy, because God
invited and my Pop accepted the salvation that is offered by Christ. I knew
death had lost the war…and my grief, though deep, knew it was my loss. Pop was more
full of life now than I was! 
Balancing our emotions and our heart is a tricky thing. No other human being can fully understand your sorrow or joy. But God can!
Psalm 44:21 Would not God find this out? For He knows the secrets of the heart.
He created your heart…He knows it completely. Always take the
grief of your heart to Him, for He is the only One that can heal it!
Psalm 56:8 You have taken account of my wanderings; Put my
tears in Your bottle. Are they
not in Your book?
Always share your heart’s joy with Him, for He is the only One
that can fully commune with you in that time of exhilaration!
Psalm 16:11 You will make known to me the path of life; In
Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures
forever.
The So What: Memorize this verse:
Proverbs 4:23 Watch over your heart with all diligence,
For from it flow the springs of
life.
What are you doing to guard your heart? Pretend you are
explaining to someone how to guard your heart…what would that sound like?
