Undivided

“Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭86‬:‭11‬ ‭

I like compartments.

You know. Like, when I buy a purse, I always buy the one with the most zippers and pockets and places to stash stuff inside.

And storage? Love containers and boxes and items with spaces to hide things away in.

My garden – it’s all divided into ‘rooms’, beautiful spaces each designed with a different theme or structure or palette, separated by fences or pathways or entrance points for maximum effect.

And my heart?

They don’t call me ‘Squirrel Lady’ for nothing.

‘Easily distracted’ is one way to put it…

Attention Deficit Disorder is another.

I want to serve God! I want to make a difference! I need to clean the house! I want chocolate! Select music for the worship team, get to work on time, be a good coworker! Cute shoes! What are Harry and Meghan up to today? Oh, yeah. I really want to make a difference!

It’s all a bit of a tizzy.

What do I really need?

A heart undivided. A heart that will sit at the feet of Jesus and soak up some of His peace to sustain me in a world gone mad. A heart that will let go of what is shiny and flashy and screaming the loudest, and grab onto what is true and right and good.

Time spent with the Inventor of Time. Breathing air into lungs designed by the Spirit whose breath gave me life. Communicating with the Linguist who conceived language.

Life is so polarizing, so apt to portion us into packages and tie us up neatly with string. So eager to separate into groups, cleave our opinions, divide us.

Our way is divided.

God’s way is not.

Look at what the Psalmist knows, speaking to us through the centuries – ‘teach me your way’. His way is whole. His way is complete. His way is to break down barriers, to unite and include and calm and heal.

Mine is to scurry hither and yon and twitch a lot.

Ah, friend.

How I need His way.

How you need His way, too.

Pray with me for this undivided heart?

Father, how we need hearts that are undivided, set on You and Your truth. Our way is to separate, to splinter, to polarize. Yours is to centre, to unite, to focus. Bless us with hearts that will single-mindedly seek You. Amen.