Welcome to the Women’s Weekly Bible Challenge! I’m Lisa Ann Spencer.
It was an honor to be asked to speak at the PRUDENT WOMAN RETREAT 2022, hosted by “Purposeful and Meaningful”.
The theme of the retreat is UNDISTRACTED – Living a Worshipful Life.
In today’s blog I will be sharing my first topic, The Burdened Heart.
I know that it is not my opinion that my readers are interested in; it is the word of God. The Bible says that the word of God will work effectually in you that believe it (1 Thessalonians 2:13). Scripture tells us to Prove all things; hold fast that which is good (1 Thessalonians 5:21).
INTRODUCTION
Having a burdened heart can certainly distract us from living a worshipful life, but before we begin our search into what the scripture says about The Burdened Heart, I would like to begin with a closer look the word ‘distract’.
It is smart to keep a dictionary handy while studying the Bible, and I recommend the Webster's 1828 dictionary. It is available free online. Noah Webster used the Bible to define many words when creating his dictionary; therefore, Webster’s will present a more biblically sound definition than modern dictionaries.
Webster’s 1828 defines ‘distract’ as to draw and drag; literally to draw apart; to separate; to divert from any point towards another point; to disorder the reason.
Though it is smart to use a dictionary when studying scripture, it is best to let the Bible define words for us. By using a concordance, we can look up any word in the Bible, and let the word of God shed light onto our understanding.
Two forms of the word ‘distract’ are found in the King James Bible two times; distracted and distraction. By considering these two passages of scripture, we will see a stark contrast between two groups of people:
- The nation of Israel, who once lived under the covenant of Law (1 Chronicles 16:15-18)
- The Body of Christ, we who are now saved under the dispensation of grace (Ephesians 3:2).
EXAMPLE ONE – The Nation of Israel Under the Law
Let's take a look at the first form of the word 'distract'.
Psalm 88:15 I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth
up: while I suffer terrors I am distracted.
ASSIGNMENT: Read Psalm 88.
📓Note: It is of utmost importance to establish the context of every chapter, book and verse of the Bible. To do otherwise is lazy Bible study, and you may be tempted to wrest scripture out of its context to make it say something that it does not mean. This is dangerous and will cause confusion for yourself and others.
Psalm 88 is a prophecy written by Heman the Seer. It is about God’s wrath being poured out onto the nation of Israel. Heman lived during the reigns of David and Solomon, so he did not personally experience this wrath of which he wrote of in Psalm 88; therefore, we know that this psalm is a prophecy of a time to come, when God will pour out wrath and chastise His covenant people Israel.
God had plainly showed Israel that if they failed to obey His law, He would chastise them (Deuteronomy 28). God’s covenant with Israel stated that, “if you obey, God will bless you; if you disobey, God will curse you”. In Psalm 88, we see God keeping His word.
God had a purpose for chastising Israel besides simply punishing them for their sins. Just as we chastise our children for their good, the purpose of God’s chastisement would be to purge Israel from their sin and to make their faith perfect (Isaiah 27:9; 1 Peter 1:7).
God told Israel that when He poured out wrath on them, they were to accept His punishment. I encourage you to read Leviticus 26:40-43 to see for yourself how Israel was instructed to confess their sins (personal and national), humble their hearts and accept the punishment. Then God would remember the covenant and bless them.
Q: What purpose of God is Heman being distracted from?
A: The purpose of God is for Israel to have faith in God , to believe in Him, and to trust His word in all things. The punishment being described in Psalm 88 is so horrible; we can hardly imagine how difficult it would be to trust God in the midst of an outpouring of His wrath. We would be VERY DISTRACTED indeed! It might be very difficult to remain faithful to God, to humble our hearts, endure the punishment, confess our sins and the sins of the nation.
MAKE APPLICATION: God does not chastise us with physical punishment today. We are not a covenant people; we are the Body of Christ. Today, God uses His completed word, the Bible, to correct, reprove and instruct us:
2 Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
We should not allow ourselves to be distracted from reading, studying and understanding God’s word, as it is the key to living a worshipful life!
EXAMPLE TWO – The Nations (Gentiles) Under Grace
Let’s look at the next example of the word ‘distract’ in the scriptures.
1 Corinthians 7:35 And this I speak for your own profit; not that I may cast a snare upon you, but for that which is comely, and that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction.
ASSIGNMENT: Read 1 Corinthians chapter 7 in your free time.
For now, let us first consider the context of this verse on distraction.
This letter to the Corinthians is written by Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles (Romans 11:13, Galatians 2:8, 1 Timothy 2:7).
Look at 1 Corinthians 1:1 and compare it to all the letters that Paul wrote, Romans through Philemon. You should notice that the first word in each of Paul’s letter is ‘Paul’. He informs us in 2 Thessalonians 3:17 that he writes his name as a salutation in every epistle that he writes.
The letter to the Corinthians is written to those who live in Corinth and have been saved by grace through faith in Jesus’s cross work.
📓NOTE: All of the apostle Paul’s letters are written to believers who are saved! He does not write to lost people. This will help you understand his letters if you keep that in mind.
Paul is addressing a question the Corinthians asked about marriage and fornication (7:1). Paul’s will is expressed in verse 7, that ‘all men were even as I myself,…’. What Paul means is that his will is for all men to be unmarried. That’s quite shocking!
In verse 26 Paul says, I suppose therefore that this is good for the present distress, I say, that it is good for a man so to be. Again, Paul states that a member of the church body, enduring persecution, would be better off remaining unmarried.
He comes to the point in verse 35, “… that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction”.
Q: What purpose of God are the Corinthians being distracted from?
A: The apostle Paul’s assumption is that all believers should prioritize attending ‘upon the Lord without distraction’. How do we ‘attend upon the Lord’? We know from 1 Timothy 2:4 that God’s purpose is for “… all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth” (see also 1 Corinthians 10:33 to confirm this).
APPLICATION: God’s will should be our will! First we have to get grounded in sound doctrine, and we can only do that by spending time in His word and growing up into him (Ephesians 4:15). Then we will be able to join with God in His purpose of sharing the gospel with the lost and helping new believers grow up in faith and sound doctrine.
PRACTICALLY SPEAKING:
1) Saved women who are unmarried can fully attend upon the Lord without distraction.
2) Saved women who are married to believers can prioritize attention to the Lord’s work with their husbands, without distraction. We see this demonstrated in scripture by the life of Priscilla and Aquila (Acts 18:26; Romans 16:3).
3) Saved women who are yoked to an unbeliever should study 1 Corinthians 7 and meditate upon what God has to say to women in your situation. Let the word of God instruct you.
All that was an INTRODUCTION to today’s topic of The Burdened Heart. Now that we have a clear, biblical understanding of what it means to be distracted, let's see what we can learn about a burdened heart.
Our hearts are spiritual, so the burden that we carry is invisible. Often it is a load that we choose to carry. If we do not handle the burden biblically, our burdens will distract us from attending upon the Lord.
We might be tempted to blame God, or other people, or even circumstances for placing burdens on our hearts; but in reality, it is we who must choose what we do with the invisible burden that we carry.
Satan would like nothing better than for us to be DISTRACTED from God’s word!
I am going to show you three examples from scripture regarding a heart that is burdened to the point of distraction and how we may apply these to our lives.
EXAMPLE #1 – A heart distracted by responsibilities.
Turn to 1 Samuel Chapter 9.
In this passage we are introduced to Saul, the son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, who is to be anointed the first captain of the people of Israel. We read about Saul’s father being concerned about some asses he had lost.
1 Samuel 9:3 And the asses of Kish Saul’s father were lost. And Kish said to Saul his son, Take now one of the servants with thee, and arise, go seek the asses.
The scripture tells us that Saul searched for three days (1 Samuel 9:20), and after the three days we read,
1 Samuel 9:5 And when they were come to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant that was with him, come and let us return; lest my father leave caring for the asses, and take thought for us.
But instead of returning home, Saul and the servant went to find a man of God that could ‘peradventure shew us our way’. They met Samuel the prophet and stayed with him for 2 days (1 Samuel 9:19).
When Saul finally departs for home, Samuel tells him,
1 Samuel 10:2b …The asses which thou wentest to seek are found: and, lo, thy father hath left the care of the asses, and sorroweth for you, saying, What shall I do for my son?
In this passage, we see an example of the heart of a parent burdened for his property, followed by the care and sorrow for a lost son. Most of us can relate to this.
📓NOTE how this passage helps us understand the definition of words: Caring is defined as to take thought for, and the care of is defined as to sorroweth for. It is important to let the Bible define words for us!
From this account of Saul’s father, we see him carrying different burdens. Kish is a husbandman whose job it was to care for asses. They were valuable enough to send his son on a three-day journey to seek those that were lost. When the son was lost, Kish left off the care of the asses and took upon him the care for his son.
A burden of the heart was quickly replaced by one even heavier!
APPLICATION: How did Kish prioritize his burdens? It was according to what was most important at the time. How should we prioritize our burdens? We should do so according to scripture. Kish could have sought out ‘a man of God’ to help find his lost son.
Today we do not need to go to a man of God to show us our way. First of all, we can go to the Lord in prayer to unburden our hearts (Philippians 4:6). We may choose to go to our pastor, but he can only say what is already written in scripture, and you will not know if what he says is true unless you have read the word of God for yourself! We already saw in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, that the word is all we need to make us perfect.
Question 1: Where do you go to find your way when your heart is burdened?
Copy Philippians 4:6 in your journal.
Question 2: What is the best way to prioritize your cares?
Copy 2 Timothy 2:7.
EXAMPLE #2 -- A heart distracted by the cares of the world.
Turn to Matthew 13, The Parable of the Sower.
In this very familiar passage we read about a burden so heavy that it will choke the word of God right out of our hearts and leave us unfruitful.
Matthew 13:22 He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.
📓NOTE: It is not the ‘riches’ that choke the word, but the ‘deceitfulness of riches’.
Question 3: Have you chosen to burden your heart with the deceitfulness of riches by pursuing things you do not need or cannot afford?
Copy 1 Timothy 6:8 in your journal, and consider committing it to memory.
Question 4: What does your contentment depend upon?
Read and meditate on Philippians 4:11-13, and consider that contentment must be learned.
EXAMPLE #3 -- A heart burdened by severe distress due to sin.
Let’s turn to the book of Lamentations.
Lamentations 1:8 Jerusalem hath grievously sinned; therefore she is removed: All that honoured her despise her, because they have seen her nakedness: Yea, she sigheth, and turneth backward.
Lamentations 1:20 Behold, O LORD; for I am in distress: my bowels are troubled; Mine heart is turned within me; for I have grievously rebelled: Abroad the sword bereaveth, at home there is as death.
As with all passages of scripture, we must first consider the context. Lamentations was penned as Jerusalem was being destroyed by Babylon. It may be hard for us to understand this depth of distress, especially we who have enjoyed a lifetime of freedom from warfare.
Earlier I mentioned how God’s relationship with the people of Israel was through a covenant, or an agreement, between both parties. God said, “If you keep my laws, I will bless you; if you do not keep my laws, then I will curse you”; please see Deuteronomy 11:26-28. The people of Israel agreed to this covenant in Exodus 19:8.
In these verses from Lamentations, we see the results of the nation of Israel grievously sinning against God. As promised, God faithfully keeps his word and pours out judgment on His people.
APPLICATION: We do not live under the dispensation of law. We live under the dispensation of grace (Ephesians 3:2; Romans 6:14). If you have trusted the gospel, how that Christ died on the cross shedding His blood for your sins, He was buried and He rose again the third day (1 Corinthians 15:1-4), then you are saved!
We do not live under a covenant agreement as Israel did. God does not curse us when we sin. Jesus became a curse for us and redeemed us from the curse of the law (Galatians 3:13). We cannot be cursed.
However, it is still possible for us to burden our hearts and bring suffering upon ourselves when we choose to walk in sin. The Bible calls this ‘walking in the flesh’ versus ‘walking in the Spirit’. The self-condemnation brought on by walking in the flesh is called ‘damnation’. Damnation does not mean loss of salvation; it means living a ‘life’ that is as dead, a selfish existence that produces no lasting fruit unto God.
Choosing to walk in sin will burden our hearts with unnecessary suffering and condemnation. This will hinder our growth and cause us to be distracted from our service to Him. The solution is to read, study and meditate upon the word of God, which will give us knowledge and wisdom to strengthen our inner man and make us able to walk in the spirit instead of walking in the flesh.
ASSIGNMENT: Copy Romans 8:1 and Galatians 5:16 in your Journal. Meditate upon what it means to walk in the Spirit. You might like to use a concordance to search out all that the Bible has to say about walking in the Spirit.
IN CONCLUSION: Having a burdened heart, for whatever reason, can distract us from ministry and render us unfruitful to God. Most often our hearts are burdened due to the choices that we make and how we choose to deal with distress in our daily lives. The best choice we can make is to unload our burdens instead of carrying them. We can go to the Lord in prayer (Philippians 4:6), and we can “Bear one another’s burdens” as we are instructed in Galatians 6:2.
My prayer is that this study will help you know who you are in Christ, and that it will help you continue to grow up into Him.
Thank you and God bless you.
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