I wonder what the world would look like if we could see peoples’ hearts on the outside. I think if we could see all the hearts in tatters, the hearts in cages, the hearts in hiding, the boarded up hearts, the bleeding hearts, all the scared hearts … then we’d treat people with a whole lot more grace and compassion. I think that if we could see all the big hearts, the brave hearts, the happy hearts - our hearts would be stirred, encouraged, hopeful.
It’s easy to think that we can’t see the heart of people, but really when we look at the outside ‘symptoms’ we see the heart anyway.
Those who have ‘hard edges’ have a hurt heart that’s afraid to trust, those with downcast eyes have a bleeding hard, those who are jumpy need to understand the power of their own heart & not discredit it. They all need our grace, they need our love and to borrow our courage. Those who are brave have a heart that has overcome much, those with big hearts and a lot of love, have made a choice not to let hurt take root – those with boarded up hearts need to know this is possible. Those with happy hearts are a hope to all of what can be – the world needs to see the light of happy hearts.
“Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life” (Prov 4:23) – the heart is quintessential to living a full life. If all this ‘heart talk’ is pinching yours, then your heart needs instant medical attention of the emotional healing variety. This isn’t a negative thing – it’s a necessary thing that results in freedom. What’s in darkness, (the things buried deep at the bottom of your heart) need to come out to the light. Here’s what happens when you dig them out. It will hurt. It will hurt A LOT, in fact it will be agonising ... initially. Those ‘memories’ will kick and scream all the way out and you’ll want to send them right back to the tomb at the bottom of your heart & pretend they’re not there. But here’s what happens when you bring them out - in the light they lose their power. In the light (like vampires) which is the perfect analogy actually (because those memories are blood sucking leaches that will eventually drain your heart of all its life) – will be destroyed when they come into the light. You might be thinking ‘oh that all sounds a bit simple’? It is. Think about going into a dark room, you can’t see a thing, it’s confusing and you’re handicapped, you might be fearful. But the second you flick on that light switch the darkness is destroyed, you can see – no more confusion and you’re free to go about your business.
But this isn’t just a ‘flag’ of attention for the broken hearted, it’s a reminder to those whose hearts are in a position of strength at the moment (to remember that we’ve all known the weight of sadness at some point). The world is hurting, there are so many who need you to notice them. “Men and women look at the face, but God looks into the heart” (1 Sam 16:7) – shouldn’t we too look to this example, for don’t we want others to care more about what’s inside of us than just accept the outside as though that’s all there is? There are people whose hearts are so fragmented that they need to borrow some strength from yours. They need to hear your story – to understand restoration, to know there is hope. They need to be noticed, not according to the outside, but that deeper look that says ‘I don’t just notice you – I CARE’.
Jesus cared very much about the state of people’s hearts “He has sent me to bind up and heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the [physical and spiritual] captives and the opening of the prison and of the eyes to those who are bound” (Isaiah 61 Amp). The heart is a very valuable thing. It’s time for you to address the power of yours, if it’s sick then great news … IT CAN BE WELL. If it’s well … great news IT CAN BE EVEN STRONGER! There is sooo much power in the human heart and here’s the really great news … WE ALL HAVE ONE!! (I know … NEWS FLASH!) But here’s the thing, a lot of us don’t always really use our hearts fully and we really need to start to think about doing so … to ponder how the world could look if we actually start living life from the heart.
I think it might be a nicer place, don’t you? x
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