My family. We’re all pretty much just a big bunch of losers. No, not like that. I mean more like: “Hey, have you seen my phone?” “Guys, where in the world are my keys?” “Anybody got an extra pen because I can’t find mine?” “Do you see my glasses anywhere in here?” “Wasn’t I wearing a coat when I came in?”
We’re forever setting something down and walking off like we’re never going to need it again. Here’s a favorite one of mine: “This is a very big parking lot, I was only in the store for 15 minutes, and yet I have for sure and forever lost my car.” I don’t think there’s even a string I could tie around a finger to help remind me where I put that.
In a “how much can one family lose” contest, ironically, we would win. My entire family. Losers.
Every once in a while, I might also lose my mind, lose my nerve, lose my way, lose my grip, lose my edge or maybe even lose my cool. But there is one thing I never want to lose. I never want to lose heart.
“Hey, have you guys seen my heart? Where in the world did I leave that thing?”
To lose heart is to lose the joy we find in knowing we are victors in Jesus. We start to wimp out in the walk of faith and toy with the idea of quitting the things that count. I don’t have to find my glasses to see clearly that my heart is only well accounted for as every part of it is focused on Christ. We’re told to consider Him in just that way in Hebrews 12:3: “For consider him who endured such hostility from sinners against himself, so that you won’t grow weary and give up,” (CSB).
Consider Him. Think about what He’s done. When we do, we’ll find ourselves heartened. “Give up” here reads as “lose heart” in several translations. It’s from a Greek term that literally means to untie. To be unstrung. It’s to be overcome by circumstances. Considering our God—that’s how we “take” heart instead of losing it. Psalm 69:32 says, “You who seek God, take heart!” (CSB), and then a few verses earlier, we’re reminded of one great way to find the ability to do it: “I will praise God’s name with song and exalt him with thanksgiving” (vs. 30).
Thanksgiving and praise. It’s a little like a string we tie around our heart to help us remember. Thanksgiving is not something we hunt for, pull out every so often, then set back down, walking away from like we’re never going to need it again. Thanksgiving and praise are the natural result of “considering Him.” Truly considering Him so that we don’t lose heart, we don’t give up, we’re not unstrung.
Father, lead me by Your Spirit to consider You—to think about You, meditate on You continually. Guard my heart. Don’t let me set it down—forgetting what matters most, focusing on worthless things. May my heart be fully focused on You, and may that focus lead to a victorious, heartening place of praise and thanksgiving.
Meanwhile, last Thanksgiving season when I gathered with my own beautiful bunch of losers, I’m pretty sure I had to ask at least once, “Anybody seen that turkey? Where did I put that thing?