Every Heartbeat

By Trina Paulsen

“A heart like mine. How could it be worthy? . . .” So begins a song written and performed by the Christian artist, Bryan Duncan. The timeless question sinks in: How could we be worthy? Who are we that God’s only Son would die to give us the gift of salvation? But that’s just it! Salvation is a gift. We can’t earn it. There is nothing we can do to merit God’s love for us, nothing we can give in return for what He has given to us.

Or is there?

The song continues, “I make my promise to do the one thing I can do . . .” While there is nothing we can do to repay our Lord, there is something we can give to show that the laying down of His life is being reverenced. Shouldn’t each of us want to do the one thing we can do?

“. . . With abandon I can give every heartbeat to You.” Every heartbeat. What would it mean to give every heartbeat? The average adult heart, while resting, beats between 60 and 74 times per minute. So, every heartbeat means every second of every day. Every word spoken. Every emotion felt. Every thought and intent of our hearts. Every everything! That is what God desires. If He has this, His Son has not died in vain, and indeed, we are worthy to be counted as one of His.

That kind of surrender is not always a pleasant consideration. On occasion, the Lord brings this song to mind as I sit and try to ignore or explain away that jittery, nervous feeling when He is encouraging me to witness for Him. At that moment, my heartbeats not given entirely to the Lord seem to increase exponentially. I’ve found it is best just to give a word for the Lord and then relax and enjoy the feeling of having done what the Spirit directed! It also relieves my fear that someone nearby, upon hearing my racing heart, will rush over to rescue me, mistaking my witnessing jitters for some fatal health condition! The Lord in His mercy deals with our hearts until we are completely surrendered to Him—even in seemingly small things.

Obviously God cares about the big decisions in our lives such as college, marriage, living location, and so on, but what about the details of life? Do we consider asking God what car to drive, when and where to shop, for guidance on the job or at school? What about the activities we participate in, what we wear and where we wear it, the person we date, how our time is spent, and the thoughts we choose to think? If every heartbeat belongs to Him, this is part of the territory.

That is not to say we are to go through life paranoid about every little thing, but what about praying every morning that God will guide our day and will help us give every heartbeat to him? What about thanking Him for helping us through the day after it is done? Or asking for a heart that is sensitive to His Spirit so we know when something grieves Him? This is what He wants. This is what makes one worthy to be called a Christian.

Giving every heartbeat to God might bring suffering. There will be times when we are hurt, when the result of doing the will of God seems to bring pain. There will be valleys between the mountaintops, and some of them might seem rather long and dark. However, is that not what being the “living sacrifice,” referred to in Romans 12:1, means—giving every heartbeat, no matter what the cost? An Old Testament sacrifice was not a true sacrifice unless death resulted. The heartbeat stopped. Would not a living sacrifice then mean giving the whole life—every heartbeat—despite the possible pain endured?

Not only did God make a way for us to be relieved of our guilt and shame, but He also helps us to walk in His way. God doesn’t expect us to make ourselves perfect, to be able to consecrate every heartbeat to Him on our own. But in our weakness His strength is made perfect (2 Corinthians 12:9), and through His strength our way is made perfect (2 Samuel 22:33).

God bought your heart with His Blood. Shouldn’t He have control of its every heartbeat?

Trina Paulsen is on the staff at the Apostolic Faith Internation Headquarters in Portland, Oregon.