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.