The Heart of the Matter

In his song, The Heart of the Matter, Don Henley writes,

There are people in your life
Who've come and gone
They let you down
You know they hurt your pride
You better put it all behind you
'Cuz life goes on
You keep carrying that anger
It'll eat you up inside
I've been trying to get down
To the heart of the matter
But my will gets weak
And my thoughts seem to scatter
But I think it's about
Forgiveness, Forgiveness
Even if, Even if you don't love me
I've been trying to get down
To the heart of the matter
Because the flesh gets weak
And the ashes will scatter
But I think it's about
Forgiveness, Forgiveness
Even if, Even if you don't love me.

Interesting conclusions out of life's pain and difficulties! They're the same as Jesus taught us in The Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6. They're the same lessons taught at Christian churches all over the world every week from toddlers on up to the adults. And even though we hear it over and over and over again we still have difficulty dealing with the heart of the matter.

The writer of Hebrews said, “Because of the joy awaiting Him [Jesus], He endured the cross, disregarding its shame.” (Hebrews 12:2NLT) Jesus has been on a mission since before the world began (1 Peter 1:20) and He knows how to get to the heart of the matter brushing aside the things that aren’t the point, purpose, or issue, regardless of the pain or difficulty involved.

In our world there are people who will hurt us, there are choices we make on our own that bring shame and bad circumstances. There are injustices, crime, victimization, and the poor. There is a constant need of food, shelter, and fresh water all around the globe. These things have always been there and always will be. They seem overwhelming and we want to do something about it. But what is it at the heart of the matter that God has for His people? Is it wealth? Is it prosperity? Is it political influence? Is it health? Is it power? Is it leisure and comfort? Is it peace and safety? Is it isolation? Is it separation? Is it world peace and the elimination of poverty? Is it even any of these things our human minds can measure? I imagine it isn’t.

The more we’ve been examining how God dealt with the children of Israel as He brought them out of Egypt and to the Promised Land, the more I see that the heart of the matter was not the land, but God Himself. Like waves constantly lapping at the shoreline, He is constantly telling them not to do like the other nations do in making idols and false gods to worship. Over and over and over again. They were now free from the slavery of Egypt and that was apparently good enough. They were free from their difficult circumstances and pain but at the heart of the matter God wanted them to know Him. He wanted to be their God and them His people. There would be much work to do in the relationship!

It’s really no different today. We often look at Christianity as a religion of crisis: “I don’t know what to do so maybe I should get back to church.” “I am hurting so maybe I should pray.” “I am at the end of my rope in this marriage so I should probably go talk to the pastor.” “My life is messed up and I am lonely so maybe I should get right with God.” We are looking to get out of our circumstances of pain and confusion and unhappiness and although we may be acknowledging that God is where we need to go for help, we are looking for a fix-it solution rather than looking for God Himself.

God warns the children of Israel that as soon as their bellies are full and there is peace all around them that this is the time they have to be careful. (Deut. 8:8-14) When I first started out in ministry I had an ol’ preacher tell me, “Remember now, it’s easy to preach about faith when you’re eatin’ steak at home.” The heart of the matter is that when our painful and difficult circumstances are at ease we tend to get proud and forget where we came from. We tend to forget that it was God who gave us what we have. We tend to want to take the credit for success ourselves. We tend to ease up on our passions and give in to desire instead.

The children of Israel did just that and their passion for worshiping the one and only God who rescued them gave way to their desire for control of which god and how to worship. That is why God was constantly, like the lapping waves on the shoreline, telling them to not forget where they came from, who brought them there, and don’t do like the other nations are doing with their carved idols and false gods.

Hebrews 12:1-2 also says, “Let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.”

We have a journey to take that has a start and a finish. We are going to get tired, weary, weak, and it may take a while. But it is our Savior we are after, not the prize at the finish. When we want Jesus more than we want to get out of our painful circumstances we will find Him! When we come to Jesus, it’s by grace and when we run with Jesus, it’s by grace. He is the one who gives all good things (James 1:17) and that might include relieving some of our difficult circumstance and pain as we run this race with Him because out of all creation we have become His prize possession! (James 1:18)

Jesus said in John 6:26 that "...you want to be with Me because I fed you, not because you understand [Me]..."

We are at the heart of the matter as far as God is concerned and He wants us to know Him as much as He knows us!