Devotional: Establish Your Heart

"Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand."

- James 5:7-8

In this context, James is reminding and encouraging his readers (Jewish believers) to stay steadfast amidst persecution and oppression by looking forward to the return of Jesus. This section is not only applicable to them, but it applies to all believers today because we are still waiting for His return. 

At that time and even now, many lost patience and fell away while waiting for Jesus’ return, especially at the pressure of persecution. Truthfully, sometimes it feels like Jesus is never coming back, but trusting in His promise keeps us steadfast. 

This section of Scripture can also apply to the seasons of our lives where we feel like God has kept us in a holding place. We wonder when God will make the next step possible, and it is easy to become discouraged. 

After graduating from college with my degree in elementary education, I took time off before jumping into the world of being a schoolteacher. One year turned into two and a half. Mid-way through, I felt frustrated and wanted to make that leap to get a job in the classroom, but it wasn’t God’s timing yet. Instead, He guided me to volunteer with a ministry for at-risk kids. I didn’t know that that was His plan for me to be better equipped to serve my students once I did get my first teaching job. This is also how He taught me the meaning of “whatever you do, work at it for the Lord.” He showed me that my purpose is not found in what I do, but rather, who I am serving. He can give me any task or job and I can do it joyfully and faithfully because my life is about serving Him.

What initially felt like a frustrating holding place was God’s intention for me to establish my heart toward Him and to establish understanding and relatability for the students I would receive the following year in my classroom.

Since then, God has put me in multiple phases of waiting on Him and I don’t believe it will ever stop. We are all always waiting for something (whether big or small), and He uses these seasons to teach us patience, to trust in His timing, and to give us the opportunity to establish our hearts, so that we will be ready for what’s next.

This idea of establishing our hearts comes into perfect tandem with last week’s devotional where I delved into the meanings of heart, soul, mind, and strength. As a reminder, our heart is the center of our innermost being. From it comes our motives that flow into our thoughts and actions. As believers, we have a new heart, one that is soft. This heart desires God’s will in our lives and wants to please Him.

“Establish” in Greek is stērizō, which means “to make stable, place firmly, set fast, fix; to strengthen and make firm; to render constant and confirm one's mind.” With this understanding, establishing our hearts means to keep our intentions and desires fixed toward the Lord. 

So, how do we practically “establish our hearts?”

• Remember that His return is imminent. 

How do you want to be found when Jesus comes back? Do you want to be caught chasing the luxuries and comforts of this fleeting world? Or do you want to be caught serving Him, loving others, prepared with a heart that is ready to stand before Him?

Jesus warns His disciples in Matthew 24: “Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore, you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

• Seek Him.

What is our purpose on earth? To know and love Jesus and make Him known to others. Like I mentioned in my story, God used that season of my life to point me closer and to focus on Him, no matter what I was doing. We establish our hearts in patience by seeking His face in everything we do, by reading His word to renew our minds, by remembering His faithfulness, by being in prayer, and by connecting with other believers.

• Don’t give up hope.

Hebrews 6:19 says this: “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast…” We must hold onto the promises Christ has given us; He’s given us the hope of His return to keep us away from being wavered by the world’s deceit.

• Focus on the eternal, not the temporary.

Paul says, “Therefore, we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18). 

Here, he is telling his readers how he “establishes his heart.” He keeps his mind fixed on eternal glory instead of on the troubles of the world.

What happens if we do not “establish our hearts?”

• We begin to drift away. 

Hebrews 2:1 says, “We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.” With drifting, comes doubting; with doubting, comes mistrust; with mistrust, comes searching for other sources of hope; and with that, we can easily start to harden our hearts toward the Lord. As a result, our hearts are weakened and we won’t be able to stand against persecution.

• We miss out on growth.

When God puts us in seasons of waiting, His desire is to work on us. He wants to establish our patience and trust in Him. 

If, however, we try to jump the gun to make things happen in our timing, we cut God’s process inside of us short. We miss out on the spiritual and other blessings that He had for us. 

Take a moment: What choice are you going to make?

• Are you going to grow weary and get bogged down with the pressures and cares of this world or are you going to establish your heart and remember God’s faithfulness and goodness?

• Are the earthly things more important to you than waiting for Jesus’ return?

• Are you going to make the most of your time while you’re in a season of waiting?

Those are real questions we have to ask ourselves, sometimes daily. 

Our walk with the Lord is one big season of waiting: waiting for Jesus’ return. 

Within our walk, we have mini-seasons of waiting: waiting for the next thing God is calling us to do. 

With both, it requires us to establish our hearts and live by faith.

-Alina