Trusts in the Heart of God

When Spanish Conquistador Hernando Cortez landed in Mexico in 1519, he had one objective: obtain the great treasures known to be there. One of his first orders to his men was to burn the ships. Cortez was committed to his mission and did not want to allow himself or his men the option of going back to Spain. By eliminating this option, Cortez and his men were forced to focus on how they could make the mission successful while avoiding any impulse to turn back and retreat.

This is the “do-or-die” attitude we see in David’s life throughout the Psalms. He didn’t have a Plan B. There wasn’t an escape clause in his contract. He understood that retreat wasn’t an option. David trusted the heart of God in every situation. He knew that if God didn’t come through then he had no business moving forward anyway. So why bother planning alternate strategies.

A man after God’s own heart has ONE strategy: Trust the heart of God and follow it with reckless abandon… not matter what.

For the man or woman whose heart is after God, it’s not so much a matter of success as it is about obedience. You understand that success is not measured in the world’s standards but in the satisfaction of knowing you have followed God’s heart into the adventurous unknown wilderness of faith.

And it is a wilderness. There are not many spiritual mavericks on this journey – those who have this “do-or-die” approach to trusting God no matter what and burning the ships of alternate strategies or escape plans. They are the few who take hold of God’s hand and say, “Though he slay me yet will I trust him.” The only failure they fear is missing the heart of God, not the failure of personal ambition or social status. They fear the false sense of security that comes from living anywhere outside the will of God. It’s God’s heart that they are after, and they learn to trust it as they chase it.

They have burned the ships.