Ally's World

Cancer. AIDS. Car accident. Stroke. Aneurism. Drunk driving incident. Murder. Suicide. These are all common forms of death. But heart attacks, or scientifically referred to as myocardial infarctions, are the leading cause of death worldwide for both men and women. In the entire world, more people die from a heart attack than anything else! Without a doubt, you know someone that has had a heart attack or you yourself have suffered from one. Yes, death is inevitable. However, I believe that our bodies are temples of the living God, meaning that we should take the utmost care of them and be good stewards of what He has given us. 2 Corinthians 6:16 states that “we are temples of the living god.” Therefore, today I want to share how we can guard our hearts, both physically and spiritually, in order to live this life abundantly!

Heart attacks stem from a variety of causes. Family history, obesity, stress, age, smoking, and diabetes all could lead to this dreaded attack. Because you can’t help your family history or age, I want to focus on the triggers that we can, and absolutely should, fix. Let’s begin with obesity. If you are overweight or obese, you are assuredly at risk for a heart attack. In my opinion, it’s simply not worth the risk, especially since you have control over your weight. Like I have said in previous posts, you should exercise for thirty minutes three different times per week. This is a non-negociable requirement to be heart healthy! Also, staying away from fatty or fried foods, as well as saturated fats, it vital for a healthy heart. Along with obesity, stress commonly causes deadly heart attacks. Therefore, cast all your cares on the Lord and trust completely in Him, and He will take care of you! I wrote about stress a while ago, and if you are interested in this topic, I would love for you to read that post!

All this to say that heart attacks are deadly, and we should take them very seriously. But they can often be prevented! So, whatever age you are, start taking precautions NOW to prevent irreversible pain in the future.Don’t think that you are exempt from getting a heart attack, because it could happen to anyone. Stop the pain before it happens.

Not only can we have physical pain in our hearts, emotionally and spiritually our hearts often ache. Most of the time, this pain stems from relationship issues because relationships often reach the very depths of the heart. Break ups. Divorce. Confusion. Separation. Mistakes. Penetrating words. Cheating. Whatever the cause, our hearts often suffer from heartache that comes from relationships. Love is certainly a risk and takes definite trust in the other person, so how can you prevent seemingly unavoidable heartache?

This is a question, especially as a young, single woman who has been hurt in the past and has seen the girls closet to me have their hearts broken, I have asked myself recently. The Lord showed me an incredible passage of Scripture that I hope will speak to your spirit as well. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 2:6-7. When we submit our requests to the Lord, His peace will guard your heart. Not only does this apply to young men and women who are not yet married, but it applies to everyone. The Lord graciously invites us to surrender our hearts to Him, and He will take care of us.

I like to think of it in this manner. When we surrender whatever is on our hearts to Him- whether that be a relationship, family, work, etc.- His peace, which is incomprehensible, will protect us like a shield. I visualize myself in a bubble of the Lord’s delicate care and provision where nothing can touch me as long as I keep surrendering to Him. We should give our hearts completely to the Lord and allow Him to disperse our hearts wherever He decides will give Him the most glory.

The bottom line is that our hearts will ache and be broken without the Lord holding them together. We need Him. Just as we should take physical heart attacks seriously, we must realize that Satan will attack our hearts and our spirits when we do not surrender them completely to the Life-Giver, who holds the very strings of our hearts in place. So today, I challenge you to physically examine yourself. Do you eat healthfully and exercise? Do you excessively stress? Now is the time to take action. Spiritually, what parts of your heart do you still have control over? What have you not surrendered? Why will you not give it to the One who holds every piece of you in place?

I want to leave you with this verse to think about: Psalm 95:7-8 “Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.” Listen and obey to what the Lord has for you!

Since birth, I have had a tiny hole on the inside wall of my heart (on the interventricular septum to be exact!). It has never had any major effect on me, except that I had to be careful when I was at the dentist because an infection could get into my heart through this tiny little hole. For a long time, my heartbeat sounded different as well, which is interesting. But it’s been closing since we found it, and it may not even be there any more!

Last Friday, I went to the hospital for an echocardiogram, which is basically a sonogram of the heart, to see if the hole is still there. During the cardiac ECHO, as it is referred to in the medical realms, the nurse showed me my heart and explained what all was going on. This quickly sent my mind spinning back to the world of physiology, which I thoroughly studied last semester. I immediately remembered why the heart intrigued me the most during my study of physiology, and I want to share that with you today.

It is remarkable to fathom what happens in one single heartbeat, and the heart beats between 50-80 beats per minute. Four chambers exist in the heart. Two atria sit on top, and two ventricles rest on the bottom. A septum vertically separates the atria and ventricles to split the heart into two sides- right and left. The right side of the heart (which is anatomically on the left side of the body ironically enough) creates a pulmonary circuit, which carries deoxygenated blood to the lungs to become oxygenated once again. Functioning simultaneously, the left side (which is on the right side of the heart) takes the oxygenated blood from the pulmonary circuit and distributes it to all the organs of the body in what is called the systemic circuit.

During one heartbeat, blood rushes from the body into the atria, then into the ventricles to be sent to the body. As the blood moves from the atria to the ventricles, the first heart sound is made, which is called “lupp.” As the blood leaves the ventricles, the second heart sound is made, which is called “dubb.” These two sounds create what is heard in a heartbeat! Obviously much more than this one action occurs, but that would encompass an entire chapter in a physiology textbook!

Although physically the heart seems overwhelmingly complicated, much more exists to the heart than just the physical side. For our bodies, the heart is the life-giver. When it stops, we stop. When it races, we are exhilarated. It produces our pace of life and sends a vital component of our bodies to every organ. However, the heart possesses much more depth than the physical qualities we have covered. Spiritually, the heart is the life-giver as well. Proverbs 4:23 states that the heart is the wellspring of life. Along with this verse, Proverbs 14:30 claims that “A heart at peace gives life to the body.” Therefore, our hearts are just as important spiritually as physically.

The human heart exists as a peculiar part of the body, a part where body and soul dance together and respond with vibrancy and emotion to the diverse conditions of life. It embodies the deepest and most intimate ideas of a person and dictates how an individual will interact with his or her surrounding environment. And God wants it. He deeply and jealously longs for every string of our hearts. Romans 10:9 boldly states, “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” What we believe in the deepest parts of our hearts determines the fate of our souls for eternity.

Once you believe, He still desires for us to give our hearts to Him. Ultimately, God is the Life-Giver. Acts 17:27 declares that “in him we live and move and have our being.” So, if our heart brings life to us physically and spiritually, shouldn’t we trust fully in the Lord? If He is the ultimate Life-Giver, what joy and vivacity would radiate our lives if He touched the inward workings of our hearts. So today, search your heart. Are there crevices and hidden corners that you have not surrendered to the Lord? Have you never given your heart to the Lord? Now is the time, and there is not a second to waste. Allow the Life-Giver to bring life to your heart today!