Why I Trust Him with My Heart
By Mindy Lee Hopman
Friday, May, 24, 2018
Behold, children are a gift of the LORD. Psalm 127:3a NASB
Every time I wear ripped jeans my husband makes a humorous comment about my “holy jeans” and asks if I am heading to church. To which I casually reply, “My jeans have holes in them because my knees are worn out from praying!”
For the past eighteen years, I have prayed for my children. The prayers began before the conception of my sixteen-year-old son and continue today.
As a young mom, I prayed over him while he slept and before every vaccination. As a mom of a toddler, I prayed when he developed from crawling to running.
As the mom of a preschooler, I prayed when I handed him over to his first teacher and when he learned to ride a bike without training wheels.
As a mom of a middle school student, I prayed over his friendships and his physical safety when he learned how to ride a dirt bike, learned to surf, and every time he played team sports.
As a mom of a teenager, I prayed when he learned how to drive, when he had his first relationship, and when he took his first SAT/ACT tests.
I continue to pray for God to lead him to the right college and I will pray when he is away and when he begins his own family.
I pray because I love him and I pray because I worry, but my heart is learning how to turn worry into worship. And in my worship, Lauren Daigle’s voice singing Here’s My Heart, Lord comes running to the forefront of my mind,
Here's my heart, Lord
Here's my heart, Lord
Here's my heart, Lord
Speak what is true
And while Lauren Daigle is singing about giving her own heart to God, all I can think about is how my children are my heart.
When they hurt, my heart hurts. When they rejoice, my heart rejoices.I love them with all of my heart, because they are my heart.
And in His gentle way, God reminds me that He loves my children even more than I do, which is hard to imagine.
God planned for each of them even before I did (Jeremiah 29:11).
God knows how many hairs they have on their heads (Luke 12:7).
God knows the condition of my children’s hearts (1 Samuel 16:7).
God knit my children together when each one was in my womb (Psalm 139:13).
God protects them (Psalm 139:5).
The promises found in Scripture resonate deep in my soul.
...do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 ESV
We love, because He first loved us. 1 John 4:19 NASB
When I pray, my perspective shifts from self to Savior, my clenched hands open up, worry releases, and I can’t help but lift my hands in worship.
Worship and worry cannot live in the same heart. Ruth Bell Graham
And then I remember the gift of the Father’s heart.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 ESV
God gave His heart to me. He gave me His Son.
God’s gift, the ultimate sacrifice, is the greatest gift to my tired and weary heart. Waves of courage and grace wash over me as I realize that the least I can do for Him is give Him mine.
Here’s My Heart, Lord.
The one who created the universe holds the whole world in His hands and He holds my heart, and I trust Him completely.
Heavenly Father, I praise You for the heavenly perspective You give to my heart. Thank You for loving each one of my children even more than I do. Thank You for giving me Your heart, who is Your Son. I commit my heart to You. I commit my children to You. Here’s my heart, Lord. May You watch over them and keep them in Your care. Your ways are better than mine, and Your heavenly perspective gives me 20/20 heart vision, which is so much better than my limited, finite vision. In the precious name of Jesus, I pray, Amen.
© 2018 by Mindy Lee Hopman. All rights reserved.
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Originally published Friday, 25 May 2018.
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