The Wizard of Oz is a story of a little girl, Dorothy Gale of Kansas, with the help of her friends, who bring down a big, bad witch. It is a story of good against evil.

One of her friends was the Tin Man, who desired a heart. After oiling all his joints, Dorothy says, "Well, you're perfect now." The Tin Man says, "Perfect? Bang on my chest if you think I'm perfect. It's empty. The tinsmith forgot to give me a heart. All hollow." He breaks out in song: "If I only had a heart, I'd be tender; I'd be gentle, and awful sentimental, regarding love and art. [Oh…] Just to register emotion, jealousy, devotion, and really feel the part." He follows Dorothy to the Emerald City to get a heart from the Wizard of Oz so he could love and feel emotion again.

Although fiction, we see similarities: the devil versus mankind. The prize: our heart. We perceive our heart is emotion-based versus our mind, which is reason-based. Our anatomical heart is a muscle that works ceaselessly, beating one hundred thousand times a day, clocking up three billion heartbeats over an average lifetime. It keeps the body freshly supplied with oxygen and nutrients while clearing away harmful waste.

Most often we think of our heart as the seat of emotions. Physiologically, our brain is actually the seat of emotion because it manages our entire bodies. It houses areas responsible for memories, thinking, and emotion, as well as speaking and hearing. All of our emotions are a reflection of neurological activity located in the brain, which results in physical responses throughout the body. The mind is what the brain does. It follows, Satan wants our mind.

There is a strong connection between both the heart and mind because our heart is the hub of our entire personality. The Bible likens our heart as the center of our intellectual and rational functions, the things we usually ascribe to the mind. The root of all decisions is the heart (Luke 6:43-45).

The heart is a metaphor for who we are as a person. If I say, "She's got a good heart," I'm not saying her muscular organ is pumping blood through the blood vessels via repeated, rhythmic contractions. I'm saying she is a thoughtful, nice, generous person. It refers to the deepest level of a person and is the source of our deepest wishes and desires (Gen. 6:6; Ps. 14:1; 21:2). Scripture also says, "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" (Jer. 17:9)

I'm sure you know a person you'd call a "know-it-all." This person helps everyone else understand where they have gone wrong in their thinking. Usually, these people have limited relationships because they are afraid of ever being wrong. The narrow-minded way a "know-it-all" approaches people has more to do with what she's feeling in her heart than what she knows is true in her head.

Jesus said, "Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear?" (Mark 8:17-18) A person who is said to have a hardened heart is one whose mind or attitude is dead toward God and even people. They refuse to repent and believe in the promises of God (Ps. 95:8; Heb. 3:8).

As a child of God we are promised a new heart and a new spirit. "I will remove from you your heart of stone [a hardened heart dead toward God] and give you a heart of flesh [a soft, tender, emotion-based heart, able to receive and act upon the truths of God's Word]" (Ezek. 11:19; 36:26, my emphasis).

What is the state of your heart today? Life coaching can help you in this process.

[The Tin Woodman as illustrated by William Wallace Denslow in 1900]

William Shakespeare said, "The brain is the soul's fragile dwelling place." Shakespeare was inferring that our personhood resides in our brain. Biblically, soul (the Hebrew word nepesh) means "living individual," the whole person, a life. Contrary to popular thinking, we are souls versus have souls. Our brain speaks to our heart, our mind, and our body-our soul. A healthy brain, therefore, is essential to a healthy soul.

The psalmist cries, "Why are you downcast, O my soul?" (Ps. 42:11). Our soul agonizes and may even be damaged in some way. Something is missing-the need to belong to God and connect with other human beings. As a baby, that need is usually met in the family unit, but if that unit is dysfunctional, that baby grows up experiencing a damaged soul.

For example: If Mom routinely hits Baby, Baby learns not to feel in her emotional heart. Her soul is damaged at an early age. Child abuse damages a soul. That child can't love through her soul because she has chosen to abandon a sense of feeling alive. It's her way of living free of pain. But, God can love her through her soul.
Dr. Dan Allender wrote, "A victim may choose to kill part of her soul that feels pain, but the grace of God renders her unable to utterly destroy her own or anyone else's intuitive sense of being. She cannot entirely wipe out the pain… Despair is a protective blanket that shields the soul against the cold demands of harsh self-doubt."

We have to cry out to God and fight for our soul, placing it under the protection of Jesus because Satan won't quit. The power to destroy our soul is not within the control of Satan and is not even within the authority of another human being. Jesus said, "Don't be afraid of these who want to murder you. They can only kill the body; they have no power over your souls" (Luke 12:4, TLB). Because of the way we're designed, it is possible to deaden our soul, but it is also possible to resurrect.

Jesus said a relationship with him brings rest to our souls (Matt. 11:28-29). There is an emotional exhaustion that comes from carrying heavy burdens. You can go on vacation, but your soul won't be restored. It can only be rectified by finding rest in Christ. Jesus spent most of his earthly time surrounded by needy people. He faced relentless opposition. The psalmist cried, "My soul is weary with sorrow…" The psalmist's answer, "Strengthen me according to your word" (Ps. 119:28).

If there was ever a person who exemplified the right mindset (a mind set on Christ) during a time of trial, it was Horatio G. Spafford. A Chicago businessman, he suffered financial disaster in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. At the same time, he and his wife were grieving over the death of their son. He realized they needed to get away for a vacation. Spafford booked passage to England. His wife and four daughters went ahead on the ship SS Ville du Havre. He planned to follow in a few days.

While on the Atlantic Ocean, the ship was struck by an iron sailing vessel and sank within twelve minutes. Two hundred and twenty-six lives were lost, including Spafford's four daughters. When the survivors were brought to shore, Mrs. Spafford cabled her husband: "Saved alone." Spafford booked passage on the next ship. As they were crossing the Atlantic, the captain pointed out the place where he thought the SS Ville du Havre had gone down. That night, Spafford penned the words that became a great hymn: "When sorrows like sea billows roll. . . it is well, it is well with my soul."

In his angst, his psyche was going to be fine. He rejoiced in God. It's going to be okay because my foundation is strong, because my spirit is connected to God.

"Praise the LORD, O my soul" (Ps. 103:22). While we can expect to suffer on earth, Satan cannot harm our soul or take away eternal life with Jesus. As difficult as your situation may be, we can choose to praise God. Practice praise. It breaks the cycle of negative thinking and whining. Find some people that incorporate praise into their lives. They are usually the ones shining! When you find them, take notes.

If you are weary, your soul deadened, go to Jesus. Stop. Quiet yourself. Now pray-talk to Jesus, with all your heart, mind, and soul. Prayer is about a relationship with God. That's our first challenge to mind change. It's tough because most of us have provisional prayer (I want…) deeply imbedded in our thinking. I'm always working at relational prayer. Praise God for who he is and what he is doing.