Discouraged?

Have you ever had those times when you're not sure what's next and nothing seems to be happening? It can be pretty discouraging,  you start counting your failures and shortcomings and when you do count your blessings it's seems pretty short lived. 

I've been going through something like that lately and it can be tough. But the last couple of nights I've just had to take it to God, and pray about it. What should I do with my time right now? ...when nothing seems to be going on...nothing is making sense...When your plans aren't happening...when you don't know what to do day to day? 

And God said (to me anyway): Serve others where you can, whether it's cleaning the house everyday for your parents, encouraging others, and just being available to others. 

God doesn't approve of self-pity parties anyway, but instead wants us to be joyful,  thankful for everything and pray without ceasing. :) 

1 Thessalonians 5:16- 18

Follow your heart?

"Well what are you going to do?"

"I don't know...I could do this, but then there's this other option too..."

"Don't worry, just follow your heart, do what feels right!" 

This sounds all too familiar, especially if you add some inspirational type of music in the background and said person suddenly gets everything they want (even the guy) and it's happily ever after. This portrayed in tv shows, movies, this kind of conversation happens in real life especially among girls. 

And the popular advice to 'Follow your dreams' and 'Do what feels right' are overwhelming. 

It certainly sounds nice but the problem is that it's not what God says. 

So what does God say on this subject:

'He who trusts in his own heart is a fool, But he who walks wisely will be delivered.'

Proverbs 28:26

'The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?'

Jeremiah 17:9

'For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.' 

Matthew 15:19

Those are just a few examples that show up in the bible about what our hearts are like. As humankind is born into a world of sin so are our hearts. Often following our hearts can be selfish, we want the best for ourselves and we strive for it, some will do anything we can to chase after what we want, which can often lead us to slander, trample over, and be mean to others. 

I know if I'm not actively seeking God and keeping His words and commandments in my heart it tends to get...not very nice in there... I know I can become very judgmental, bitter, easily annoyed, prideful and  selfish, wanting to do things for the wrong reason rather than just being willing to help someone else.
 We can't follow Jesus if we're too busy following our own hearts.

I'm not saying having dreams and goals is a bad thing, in fact they can be very good, and God can give us a certain desire to want to do something in particular and replace or change that at anytime (I used to want to be a fashion model)  but these dreams and desires need to be prayed about. I know there are lots of things that I would like to do but God is saying 'wait, I'm planning something else that's ever better'.  We want what's best for us, so does God, in fact He wants the very best for us because we're His children and He wants to bless us more than we could have ever imagined. He just really loves us, 

that's no dream, that's reality.