Joey Crandall
Reflections on the Word
"He who trusts in his own heart is a fool. But whoever walks wisely will be delivered."
-- Proverbs 28:26
The wisdom of the world will tell you to "follow your heart."
Scripture, though, calls this foolishness.
Think of it like this: Consider your life like a boat floating through the waters of this world. There will be times where the breeze just carries you along, and there will be times where gale force winds threaten to capsize you.
When those storms rage, though, what is it you truly seek?
Solid footing, right?
You want to believe you won't be moved or shaken. You want to maintain your course and not be blown into oblivion. You want to be somewhere safe.
And when you've found that place, what do you do?
You cast the anchor.
But who would ever throw the anchor inside the boat?
That's essentially what trusting in your own heart is.
It is casting your anchor within, in the hope that you willl not only find what you are looking for, but that you will be able to stick around there once you find it.
In the meantime, the tides of life -- even the softest of breezes -- float you to wherever the world would take you. And before you know it, you are far, far off course.
It's in those times that we start to say, "What happened here?"
Simply put: We weren't anchored.
But there's another degree to it, when it comes to matters of the heart.
Jeremiah 17:9 says "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; Who can know it?"
So more than casting an anchor inward, your heart could be considered a liability at best — like casting a jackhammer below deck and hoping against hope it doesn't turn on.
Our hearts alone, they do more damage than good.
We were created with a need to worship something.
God's intention was that it would be Him.
Our hearts desperately grasp for something to fill the void within, and often we bring in a whole lot of things God never intended to occupy that position.
While God fills a life, every other thing in creation — left alone — will drain a life.
Trusting in our hearts becomes a process of trusting a ravenous vacuum.
It will draw us toward whatever temporarily satisfies that appetite.
So in our boat analogy, not only are you constantly being blown off course by the breezes and rolling waves, you also slowly sink as your heart takes on more and more baggage, leaving gaping holes in its wake.
So, getting back to today's original verse, how do we walk wisely?
The answer comes in the follow-up verse from Jeremiah. "I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings."
When we cast our anchor overboard, it must land on The Rock we know as Jesus Christ. He knows not only the best course for us, but He knows His purpose for us through whatever trial we come against.
We can't trust our hearts. We must trust in the One who searches and fills our hearts.
So today, as you face the storm this life can be, consider strongly where you throw your anchor.
Walk wisely — follow Jesus, and find deliverance.
Joey Crandall is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Carson Valley.
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