Family caregiving is full of moments that don’t allow time to search and study the Bible for guidance or comfort. Decisions are required quickly. Emotions are running  high. Fatigue has settled in deep. And in these moments, what we have already stored in our hearts is what will guide us and keep us from error.

We often try to change ourselves from the outside in. We adjust habits, modify behavior, and manage our appearance.  We set goals and make resolutions. God is concerned with something deeper. He is waiting for us to choose a relationship with him–one where sin is cut away to enable us to love him more.

On the eve of his arrest and crucifixion,  Jesus prepares his disciples for the change ahead. He tells them to not let their hearts be troubled even though he knows that the events to come will be difficult, shake them to their foundation.

Human expectations and standards are not the same as God’s. When God sent Samuel to anoint a new king for Israel– to follow Saul’s reign– Samuel was reminded that a man’s stature and physical attributes say nothing of his heart. God alone knew what was written on the heart of Jesse’s sons that passed before Samuel and God alone knew who Israel needed to lead them–a shepherd named David.

Words are important. Words reveal what we believe, what we think, and likely, how we behave. Jesus tells the Pharisees that their words about him reveal what they think about God. And what they were holding in their hearts wasn’t pretty.