The Cause Of
Trouble In My Heart
John 14:27
Anytime my heart is troubled with worry,
anxiety and fear, (And it often is!), I can trace the trouble of my heart to
five evil lusts of my flesh that constantly oppose the Spirit of God and faith
in Christ. Read what I have to say about them and see if the same is not true
of you.
1. PRIDE - Sorrows usually spring out of ourselves. It is pride that makes us think the sun should
always shine upon us, that we should always wear soft shoes, and that our path
should always be smooth. It is pride, self-love, self-adulation,
a sense of self-worth which causes us to strive with God, rebel against his
sovereign purpose, despise his providence and resist his will. We will find no
comfort for our hearts until our pride is broken and our hearts are subdued
(Job
2. UNBELIEF - This is the root of heart
trouble. Worry is the fruit of unbelief. This is the thing that destroyed
3. COVETOUSNESS - All heart trouble
arises, in great measure, from covetousness. We want what God has not given.
Our hearts will never cease to be troubled until we learn, by God's grace, to
be content with God's provision (Phil.
4. ENVY - Envy was the thing that nearly
destroyed David (Psa. 73:1-3). Envy is the most loathsome and vicious child
that pride ever sired. Envy not only despises God's providence, envy pretends
to be wiser than God! As a moth eats cloth, so envy eats a man. There is no
passion of the human heart more cruel and destructive than envy. No one wants
to acknowledge his envy. But we all naturally love to indulge it.
5. SELF-PITY - Troubled hearts are usually
peevish hearts, self-willed and self-indulging. Self-pity is the sum of pride,
unbelief, covetousness and envy all added together. The spirit of the flesh is
self-pity. The Spirit of Christ is self-denial.
These five evils of the flesh are the
things that cause my heart trouble. I have to live with them. But I can never
be content to live with them.
Don Fortner