Locked Out of Your Own Heart

“They shall call the peoples to the mountain; there they shall offer sacrifices of righteousness; for they shall partake of the abundance of the seas and of treasures hidden in the sand.” Deuteronomy 33:19

Father, I pray for the participants coming to the Deeper Still Retreat this week to allow you to unlock the locked places of their hearts, allow you access to the hidden, surrendering it all to you for removal, so there can be entrance and access to their heart treasures. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

One of Deeper Still’s friends, Brad Hobbs, wrote the blog post we are sharing today. The entire post can be read on his blog, http://bradhobbs.com/when-the-lock-wont-open/ .  Today, we are sharing just a portion of the entire post.  Thank you, Brad, for sharing your heart with us.

Locked Out of Your Own Heart

For the life of me I couldn’t unlock that lock.

Several times I used the combination I myself had set.  After all it was my lock.  I put it there.

The lock was on a storage unit containing excess inventory and fixtures for our business.  After two days of people trying to unlock it, it became obvious that none of us were going to unlock this lock.

On the other side of this lock, was something we were storing for a ministry we love and support, Deeper Still. One of their ministry retreats was coming up and they now needed what was inside.  Ironically it was a ministry whose mission is freeing wounded hearts.  Yet we couldn’t unlock the unit containing one of its simplest ministry tools.

In it, I found a correlation between the storage unit, our interior world, and the kind of work done by this ministry called Deeper Still. 

Never Let A Lock Control Your Life

When what we treasure is behind a lock which we cannot control, it’s a form of impoundment at best, imprisonment at worst.  It prevents us from enjoying those treasures ourselves or sharing them with others.

Heart treasures are things like our ability to relate to our creator, others and our world.  It’s the ability to experience peace, enjoy creation, and find hope in a future that transcends the limits of time and space.  It’s the means through which we are moved by story, affected by music, and feel the emotion of a friend going through a hard time.  It is the stores of faith, hope and love that enlivens the human spirit and gives us the deepest levels of meaning and purpose.

Heart treasures are the rare earth minerals of humanity and they reside in the innermost world of the heart.

But then there is also the heart trash.  Usually the byproducts of treacherous life experiences – be they caused by others against us or produced by ourselves through our own bad choices.  Often a combination of both.

Each experience produces refuse such as fear, guilt, shame, bitterness, resentment, emotional pain, emotional instability, disordered personalities, humiliation and enough negativity to power a Tesla for a year.

And we tend to want to lock that stuff away.  Whether it’s to keep it out of public view, or from our own conscious awareness.

There Can Be False Security in Locks

But in an effort to lock away the heart trash, we end up also locking away the heart treasures along with it.  Making both unavailable for emotional healing, intrinsic enjoyment, and sharing with others be it your family, work or church.

Proverbs 4:23 from the Christian Bible is a family favorite – “Guard your hearts, for it is the wellspring of life.”  But guarding and locking are two very different things.  In the former we must stay present and attentive.  In the latter we can just click and forget.  Locks become quick and easy ways to put away, get away, and stay away.  Locks give us a false sense of safety and control.

…guarding and locking are two very different things.

But the day inevitably comes when we want access to the heart treasures within, and we return to the locked unit only to find out we have lost the key or forgotten the combination.  And we are locked out of our own heart just as I was locked out of my own storage unit.

At that point there is only one thing to do that makes sense – ask for help.

Ask For Help.  Cut Off The Lock.

When for the life of you the lock won’t unlock, we can do one of three things.  We can keep trying different combinations or keys over and over again.  We can forget about it and choose to ignore that locked heart, thereby devaluing what’s on the inside.  Or a third option, cut the lock off.

And so let me ask you…What kind of lock might you have around your heart?  Have you tried to unlock it lately?   The heart treasure within is worth the effort.  And while you’re in there, you’ll be able to throw out some smelly heart trash, never letting it stink up your thinking again.

The sheer freedom of access will enliven your spirit in ways you’ve never imagined.

God Moves Stones

“Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen.  And they said among themselves, ‘Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?’” Mark 16:3

Father, I pray for the Deeper Still team and participants to have faith like Mary and Mary.  I pray they would just go in faith trusting you to roll away the heavy stones.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

 

At the Deeper Still Team Meeting last week, Karen Ellison taught from this scripture in Mark 16. 

Jesus had been in the tomb three days.  Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of Jesus, set out early in the morning heading toward the tomb to anoint Jesus’ body with spices.  On the way, they were talking among themselves and wondered, “Oh yeah, there is this big boulder in the way, I wonder how we are going to roll it away.”

What I love is that they kept going. They had everything they needed and they went on in faith that somehow the stone would be rolled away. 

Participants come to the Deeper Still retreats, not with their spices, but with their suitcases, clothes, makeup, and other things they need for the weekend.  Physically prepared perhaps, but one thing they may not know is how the stone will be rolled away.  

 

“But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away—for it was very large.” (V. 4)

The stone was very large.  Most likely the stone was too heavy for the ladies to move on their own.  It took faith for them to press on to their destination. 

The abortion-wounded participants come with a very large stone that seems too monstrous to move.  Many fear that they will come and nothing will happen.  However, God knows how to move a stone. 

It is not only the participants that must come in faith believing for God to move stones, the Deeper Still team members must also go in faith believing that no stone is too big for our God. 

Deeper Still team members come prepared, also not with spices, but in the power of prayer.   Peppered in prayer, the team members are going in faith, knowing they cannot roll away the stone on their own.  The stone is way too heavy to move.  There is only One who can move the stone.

  

Huge stones are nothing for our God.  One word from our Divine Creator and stones are smashed into pieces, hearts are changed, and captives are freed.

 

We just need to come, the participants and the team, in faith.   We go in faith even when we don’t know the how. 

And on Sunday morning, we too, like the mother of Jesus and Mary Magdalene, look up and see the stone rolled away and we are in awe—for it is always very large.  God is able to move the stone.   

Judi's Story

“But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. And he said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.’”  Mark 5:33-34

Father, we give you praise that healing flows from even the hem of your garment.  Father, we pray for all the participants coming to the Deeper Still retreat, that they would come and fall before you Lord and tell you the whole truth so that they may be made well, have peace and be healed.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

March 8, 2016, Deeper Still had its annual fundraising banquet.  Four beautiful testimonies were shared by four of the participants who went through a retreat last year.

One of the participants who shared was Judi.  Last summer, Judi reached out for the hem of Jesus’ garment and the result was nothing short of miraculous.  The post today is written by beautiful and free Judi. She also shares part of her story in a short video at the end! Thank you Judi for sharing your story with us today!

 scan·dal·ous

ˈskandləs/

adjective

1.    causing general public outrage by a perceived offense against morality or law.

Today I am in a quite different place from where I started this journey.  When I walked onto the porch at the Deeper Still retreat last year, I felt like the dirtiest outcast that had ever tried to get close to Jesus.  I was reminded of that day a few weeks ago when my church started a series on scandalous grace. They started it in Mark 5.  I had heard the story of the woman with the issue of blood so many times before.  But in this season of my life, the message brought something out that I had never seen before.  Look again at verse 33:

³³ But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth.

She told Him the whole truth.  The whole story.  She spoke it out loud, even with her voice shaking.  And she was healed.

I have known my entire life that God was the God of the universe.  I have known my entire life that Jesus died on the cross at Calvary for the redemption of mankind.  I have always known in my head that I am not the ruler of my life.  This past year, I finally allowed that knowledge to get into my heart.  When I surrendered to that knowledge, He indeed became my Lord.  This past year has felt like a whirlwind of change and a roller coaster of events and has been both the hardest and the sweetest year of my life.  But that has not come easily.  It has taken a lot of prayer, even more listening for Him to tell me where I am and to show me where He wants me to go.  It’s taken faith that He will be my rock now and even when it’s all said and done.  It’s taken the faith to follow Him where He calls me.  Even into scary, unknown places with people I don’t know, in order to start dropping the weight of the baggage I’ve been carrying for decades.  And I have dropped it… by the ton…

Like the woman with the issue of blood, I knew He was a healer, but the crowd was so big… 

And He healed me anyway.

Like the woman caught in adultery, I knew I was guilty and the crowd was so angry…

And He forgave me anyway.

Like Zacchaeus, the crowd was just too much over my head…

 And He dined with me anyway. 

And like the second thief on the cross, I deserved death for what I had done in my life…

 And He paid the cost for me anyway.

I am free.  I am not perfect and have no ability or desire to be.  But I serve a mighty God who has equipped me.  I have the full armor of God to protect me daily.  I have been set free from the lies of the enemy.  I am the daughter of the One True King and am an heir with Christ!  If you are in Christ, I hope you know that you are, too!

Voice by voice, story by story, we really can be victorious in Christ. Scripture reminds us in Revelation that we have conquered him (satan) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony.  Mine was an ugly story to tell.  Mine is a story some people want me to keep to myself.  But it’s now His story and He will be glorified by it.  This is my story….

https://vimeo.com/album/3688033/video/159255229

  

To Karen and the team members, I can’t even begin to say thank you enough for being the examples of freedom I needed to head safely in His direction with my own life.  I have found my voice.  I will not stop proclaiming the freedom in Christ that I have found.  I will praise Him until he calls me home!