The Deceitful Heart

For those of you who have been reading the study I wrote, I want to be honest with you about something. I, like you, am going from glory to glory. I am continuing to learn new things about myself, about the Lord, and how to bring glory to His name. The Lord recently showed me some areas of darkness with in my heart as a “storm” blew through my life. I want to share what He used to show them to me, so you can see that I, just like you, face challenges in this walk of holiness.
A few months ago, a hurricane blew through Texas. The remnants of the storm passed through my town causing a tree to fall on our roof, which broke two holes in our roof, allowing water to pour in the house. My husband had to get out in the midst of 60 mile per hour winds to cover the holes the best he could to stop the water from ruining our wood floors. He placed a temporary tarp over the holes until we could get someone out to assess the damage and fix the holes. We had a huge mess to clean up outside after the storm passed. When the insurance man came by the following week and assessed the damage of the roof, he determined that we needed an entire new roof because of all the previous damage that had been done long before we lived here.
I couldn’t help but compare the similarities between that and the conditions are our hearts. How many of us have had previous damage done to our hearts long before we get to marriage? We make every attempt to cover up the pain of the past with "temporary tarps" instead of letting The Healer come in and help.
As the roofers began the work of removing the old roof, they found areas that had rotted wood just beneath the roof that needed tending to first. That reminded me when we give God access to our wounded hearts; He often finds areas that have been "rotted" for years. He has to tend to those deepest areas first before he works on the rest of it.
I began to picture when a storm blows through our homes, we are left with damage we are not capable of fixing ourselves. It takes a professional to assess the damage and clean up the mess; it takes Jesus. Along with His guidance, He can lead us to His Word and godly counsel to tend to the wounds of our hearts. Concerning the topic of betrayal, whether one is on the side of being betrayed, or is the betrayer, the heart is in serious need of help.
Jeremiah 17:9 says the heart is deceitful above all things. Have you ever allowed God to show you the deceitfulness of your heart? I cannot tell you how many times I thought I had a heart that was not capable of certain sinful deeds! What a lie that was!
I recently allowed God to show me another area in my heart that was deceiving me. A minor storm blew though my life that God used to show me an area that desperately needed tending too. It is in times of crisis that God often uses, to show us what is hidden in our hearts. For example, hatred, jealousy, lust, selfishness, self-reliance, etc. I wonder how many of can relate to exactly what I am saying? I pray that when a storm comes our way, we would allow God to have His way with us in the midst of it.