Instincts Again: Follow Your Heart - Live like a Guide Dog

“On my bed I remember you: I think of you through the watches of the night. Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. I cling to you; your right hand upholds me.” (Psalm 63:6-8, NIV)

“The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” (Deuteronomy 31:8, NIV)

“He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day.” (Psalm 91:4-5, NIV)

I love to play Trivial Pursuit. It is a game where players are asked questions covering a variety of topics. Many times when I played the game I would hear a question and an answer immediately popped into my head. However, I would think, this can’t be the right answer—it’s too easy. When the answer was revealed, often it turned out to be that “easy answer” I ignored.

I began to work at listening to my heart, that inner voice telling me the right answer. My Trivial Pursuit score went up dramatically.

How often do we ignore our inner voice or heart or God and deny what is right in front of us? Answer: all too often.

In Live like A Guide Dog and in these lessons I talk about preparation. Our minds are muscles we have to develop. The more we work at listening to our hearts and inner voices, the better we will become at recognizing God’s guidance.

Each night as you go to bed, spend time thinking about what happened to you that day. What went right? What went great? What problems did you encounter, and did you work to resolve them or were you afraid? The more we practice introspection the stronger our mental muscle will become. Remember, you are your best teacher, but you must work at teaching yourself.

Prayer:

God, help me practice daily the art of introspection. Show me the power and value of listening to you, my inner voice. Give me the strength to realize that instinct is good, it works, and by recognizing and encouraging it, I will grow closer to you in all that I do.