Day in and day out there beats within us a heart, pulsating a rhythm and a story by which we live. For some it is a rhythm of disrhythm—of chaos, noise, clamor and beneath it all—fear.  From the moment of waking, the heart is on the defense. Continuously radiating between panic, peace, happiness and despair, it knows not where to turn, what to expect or how to shield itself from further pain. Have I adequately described the life of a parent caring for a chronically ill child? You live one appointment away, one phone call away, one new and disturbing symptom away from having your quasi-paradise dissolve before your eyes. You know that months of progress or remission is not building an impenetrable wall through which heartbreak cannot pass. You live forever knowing you might not have forever. Thus, a heart that beats a rhythm of disrhythm. Half beats. Irregular beats. Beneath it all is fear. How can it not be there?   

Something More

And yet, while it makes sense, while it is natural, I want you to know it does not have to be. There is a God Who offers His children the Heart of Hope. There is a God Who has set Himself against the fears of His sons and daughters and reaches out to them to offer something more. It is this God Who Paul speaks of in his letter to Timothy saying, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Tim. 1:7). Paul writes from prison awaiting execution to Timothy who, it appeared, would be following in his martyr’s footsteps. Like you, these men did not live a life of outward stability. They lived under a hostile government. At any moment they or those they loved could be imprisoned and sentenced to unspeakably violent deaths. Their calling was a calling to life amidst darkness in the face of opposition, and yet Paul reminds Timothy to let his heart beat to a rhythm of hope. He urges Timothy to instruct his heart to pulsate with power, love and a sound mind. How? By knowing his God and holding fast to the truth.   

But you see, Paul writes this, we must suppose, because Timothy was struggling to do just that. In the preceding verse, Paul tells him to “stir up” the gift that God had given him to preach. He urges him to continue on, to arise and take up the work for which he had been called. His message to Timothy was to refuse to give in to the natural tendency to be led day by day according to his fears. Yes, his world was a bleak one. Yes, the work involved personal suffering, but Paul calls him to a life beyond the dictates of fear. He reminds him what the rhythm of his heart should be: power, love and a sound mind.   

A New Rhythm

Regardless of weight of the fears that seek to bind us today, God calls us to set our hearts to this rhythm as well: power, love and a sound mind. Power through the Spirit of God that lives within us. We, as followers of God, have the power to live a life of obedience regardless of our circumstances. There is no, “I can’t take this any longer” because it is no longer just us that must bear the weight. We have God within us. He can empower you for one more night, one more hospital stay, one more heartbreak, one more disappointment. There is nothing that will happen in your life that you will not be able to endure through His power. He is within you, and He is more than able to keep you from falling however dark your path may be.  

But our hearts don’t merely beat to the rhythm of His power but also to the rhythm of love: love for our God and love for those He has given us to serve. God calls us to wake and set our hearts beating with impulses of love. Eyes searching, hands ready—we are called to be poured out for the good of those our lives touch. Day by day with each meal made, each diaper changed, each appointment scheduled, and therapy session completed, He whispers—love, love. Let love be the fuel and the rhythm to which you labor. The life you have been given, the work you have been assigned–it comes from His hand. Take it up. You are the mother of this child. You are the father of this family. You and only you have been given this work. Take it up and in love, serve.   

And lastly, we are called to a rhythm of a sound mind. This a mind that is trained, disciplined to see and respond to life according to the truth of God’s Word. It is a mind that recognizes that every detail in life is being orchestrated not by fate, but by a loving heavenly Friend. It is a mind that looks with the eyes of faith and sees the tangles and disruptions as essential to some perfect plan that God is executing. A sound mind is sure, steady and unshakeable. It knows the truths of God’s Word; and like a well-trained soldier, it is a mind that stands its ground because it trusts the Commanding Officer.  

Living the Heart of Hope

Now if, like me, you’re tempted to think of the Heart of Hope as a gloriously idealistic mountain that you’ll never be able to summit, let me once again remind you that Paul wasn’t writing these things to Timothy because Timothy was nailing it. He wrote because Timothy was struggling. The call was a call to remember. It was to shake and “stir up.” We are all on a journey somewhere. We are all moving closer to or away from the life God desires for us. Yes, the mountain to which God calls us is high. You will never passively reach the heights, but you can reach them. You can live a life that beats to the rhythm of the Heart of Hope. Day by day, moment by moment you can train yourself to resist the natural but futile rhythm of fear and choose instead to set your heart to a rhythm of power, love and a sound mind. You have the truth of God in His Word, you have His Spirit within you, there is a physical tangible body of Christ called the Church that can support you—you can have the Heart of Hope. And my dear friends, I pray you will. Settle for nothing less. Live a life to the tune of the Heart of Hope.