Have you ever stood back and tracked the journey that your heart has been on in life? To illustrate what I'm talking about, here's a synopsis of my heart's journey:

When I was a child, my mom had my heart. She nurtured me and I only had eyes for her.

At some point I gave my heart to Jesus, but I'm not sure I did really. I mean, I said the prayer and went to Sunday School, but I didn't have a clue about how to walk with him through life.

In high school, my heart was shut down. I was depressed - I didn't understand myself and didn't feel understood by anyone.

In college, the atmosphere of freedom was wonderful - my heart was like a bird fluttering about. The depression was broken and the possibilities in life seemed endless.

When Karen came along, I was ready to tether my heart to hers and we set off on adventures. Along the way as we traveled the world, God broke my heart for the things that break his heart. I found myself feeling compassion more frequently. And in the years since, I cry a lot more than I ever did. My heart has slowly morphed into something different. And Jesus seems to use my heart as a weapon in his arsenal a lot more these days.

Our hearts go on a journey through life. Many people get shut down by pain in the years where they're vulnerable and they vow, "No one will ever do that to my heart again. I'm going to erect walls around my heart that protect it."

We can't avoid pain, but we can learn from it and become aware of how it impacts our decision-making. Ultimately, all of us end our heart's journey before the Lord God; we can't escape that rendezvous, but we can decide how we're going to get there.

If your heart is open enough, consider reflecting on the role that pain has played in limiting its journey toward God. We periodically need to be aware of our response to pain and what it's done to our hearts.

I like what God says to encourage our hearts in their journey toward him: "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." Jer. 29:13

What does your heart's journey look like? What would be the high and low points?