Proverbs 15:13. A glad heart makes a cheerful face, but by sorrow of heart the spirit is crushed.
In Hebrew thought the heart is the deepest part of a person. Their innermost thoughts, attitudes, and desires. In the Old Testament the heart is deeper even than the spirit, which is usually connected to the will, volition, or choices. In today’s proverb the glad heart and the sorrowful heart are contrasted, yet the lesson is the same – it is the inner person, the heart, that controls the outer response. We are controlled from the inside out, not the outside in.
It can sound so simple and logical, and yet so many of us still allow the outer circumstances of life to control our inner disposition, don’t we? We don’t know our heart’s desires well enough to see how they are directly impacting our emotions (cheerful face) and our choices (spirit). We struggle to see the desire beneath the desire. So when the surface level desire is affected by a difficult circumstance, what do we do? We try desperately to alter that circumstance, rather than allowing the Spirit to use it to reveal the deeper desires of our hearts.
Once those deeper desires are exposed, we can begin to let Christ satisfy them as only he can. Christian, your heart’s joy and sorrow are not supposed to be completely controlled by your circumstances. Yes, there are very difficult things that we face in life. There are seasons of gladness and seasons of sorrow. And authentic emotional responses are good and healthy. But, in Christ, we also live above the seasons and situations of life. We live from union with Christ, including union with his enthronement in Heavenly places, far above anything on this Earth that can steal away our hope, peace, and joy. In fact, as the Apostle Paul says, the hardest circumstances of life actually work to reveal what is deep in our hearts and renew us in the inner man.
2 Corinthians 4:7-10. 7But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. 8We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.
2 Corinthians 4:16-17. 16So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.
In Christ we can always look deeper. Deeper than the face. Deeper than the choice. Deeper than the circumstance. Deeper than the earthly joy or sorrow. With Christ in us there’s always another level of trust to explore, and always another level of hope to hold on to.
You: How aware are you of your hearts innermost desires?
You in Christ: In Christ we know that whatever we are experiencing today will be transformed by God’s grace. How does this truth allow you to gladness in the midst of sorrow?
Christ in you: Where can you see Christ in you revealing your deepest desires and changing them into his own?
Pray: Spirit, take me deeper into my union with Jesus, into my inner person, where I know I can find, hope, peace, and joy in knowing you. Amen.
To Live is Christ 