Landmines

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. (John 14:27 NIV)

Have you ever experienced an "internal explosion."  Sometimes it starts kind of slow.  Other times it just seems to appear in full force without any warning.  Nothing about your present circumstances seem to merit how your're feeling, but the feeling is overwhelming.  Fear. Anger. Hurt. Lust. Boom!  Your mind is suddenly flooded with the thoughts.  Your body starts to react - heart racing, hands tremble.  It's VERY real...but how?  You struggle to hold back the thoughts so you don't do or say something that's a "bad box," but the people around you can tell something's wrong.  You just experienced a landmine.

Landmines are stored away in our hearts.  They take up residence in any place we stored bad boxes in the past.  When we put "bad boxes" (thoughts) away in our hearts or long-term memory, they don't go away.  In fact, they stay there stored away in waiting until the right time...to explode.

We do all kinds of things to "protect" ourselves from ever tripping these landmines.  We avoid people, places, and situations that might cause us to bring back these memories.  We wall off parts of our heart and won't allow "Will" to travel into that section.  But the protective measures turn out to be futile.  We still step on the trigger.  The explosion happens again.  Tears come out.  Lustful thoughts become actions.  Outbursts of anger show what's really going on in our hearts.  Then the shame comes.  The guilt overpowers.  You try to cover it up just like Adam and Eve after eating the forbidden fruit on that fateful day.

God doesn't want you to have landmines.  He doesn't want your heart to be broken.  Your heart does not need to be troubled, nor do you need to be afraid.  He wants healing for your heart.  He's willing to heal it for you...if you want.

Are you ready to heal your heart?