Heart is Not Enough

So I got to thinking today. I don't know where it came from, probably just a part of my pondering on what I want my life to add up to.

Anyhow, I was thinking about inspirational people like Mother Theresa, Martin Luther King Jr., and William Wallace.

Side note- I love William Wallace a lot, a whole lot.

William Wallace especially, because I love him a lot, a whole lot [as seen above]. The whole story inspires me to no end. So I was thinking about similarities between these people and others like them, and what I came up with is that they didn't have a whole lot of support [comparatively speaking]. Whatever cause these people fought for was outnumbered by whatever/whoever they were fighting against.

I am going to mostly use my Scottish friend here because it is a great story, and a war analogy works well with what I am trying to say.

Take Mr. Wallace for example, he and his army were hugely outnumbered, and yet they won. So some might some to the conclusion that numbers aren't the deciding factor, heart is.

I agreed with myself as I thought that this morning, and then my little shoulder helpers [I can''t decide on the whole shoulder angel and devil thing - to me there just happens to be two miniature Netti's that like to argue with each other] popped up and started having a chat.

Numbers matter - a lot. Especially in war, sheer numbers can be the difference between victory and defeat, life or death. Now you might say that numbers can be beat by the determination of an army that believes wholeheartedly in what they are battling for, and that could be true.

But I don't think it's enough.

I know this might sound a bit pessimistic, but hear [err, read] me out before you start launching rotten veggies at the screen [but if you find you cannot restrain yourself, then please, any vegetable other than tomatoes. I hate tomatoes.].

Think about it, William Wallace may have been fighting for a worthy cause that he believed in, and the English may have just been fighting by order of their King, but those English were also fighting for their lives. I don't know about you, but if I was fighting for my life, I would put up quite the fight. My whole heart would be in that fight because to me, my life is a worthy cause.

Heart is not enough to win. Heart cannot lead you into victory. Heart, even when added to numbers, cannot beat a force that is fighting for something else all together.

Wait, read it again. Heart even with numbers is not enough.

"But Netti, you said numbers can beat heart, and sometimes heart can beat numbers, so the two together should be pretty unstoppable" said shoulder helper #1.

So why then was William Wallace [well, technically not him, but 'his' army] able to defeat the English? And why did the English lose, even with superior numbers and fighting with all their hearts for their very lives?

Because Wallace did not fight for himself.

Wallace fought for a greater cause - he was looking outside of himself and fighting for the liberation of the people and land that he loved. And I believe his men got swept up in his passion and in his dreams to the point where they shared in his selflessness.

So imagine a whole army of Scotts fighting together for something greater than any one of them, against a massive army of people fighting by order and out of fear.

Is it any wonder they won in the end?

Had Wallace merely been battling for land rights the way the English King was, he would have lost. Because heart is not enough.

This translates into our lives today.What am I fighting for? What am I living for? It had better be something beyond myself otherwise I believe I will end up sorely disappointed and very unfulfilled when I am drawing my last breaths.

Because heart is not enough.

I must strive to fight for something greater than myself, and I believe that that thing is the Kingdom of God. God is the only thing that is big enough to fulfill my very human self. He is my Sovereign King, and fighting under His will for His throne is not only an honor, but it is what will save my life.
And when I die to myself I come alive in Him and that is the most alive a person can get. When we live outside of ourselves, fighting for the greater good and the High King, He breaths His own life into us; jolting our beings into greater and more stunning things we could ever have begun to dream up inside our human brains.

Heart is not enough.

Is it easy? No. Is it worth it? Yes.