The Volcano Within, the Heart

[HKHaugan]

Several years ago we went to Mt.St.Helen to see the aftermath of the massive explosion that took place there years before. You have to go there to really have a feel for that event. Mt.St.Helen’s was an explosion waiting to happen. It was building an inner pressure that would blow. No one knew just when.

Events like that have a spiritual message. Paul tells us that what you can see gives us a picture of what you can’t see. I was moved to see an invisible reality paralleled in that event, the reality of the human heart. It is very much like a volcano but we’ll get to that in a moment.

We hear of and see massive unrest, interpersonal conflict and painted division in the world of people. Pressure builds within people, within their hearts and that pressure may extend into groups. Eventually explosions occur. The world of people is really a world of hearts, hearts under pressure, alienated, isolated and despairing. The human heart is really an invisible spiritual organism deep within that motivates our behavior without. The heart is a problem. It is fragile, broken, frightened and leans toward inward protection. The pressure within is sin and sin builds force that will out.

We are a heart people in need of truth, understanding, reason and direction for that inner sin pressure. The one person who really knows its solution died on a Cross and rose from the dead to show us the problem, how to solve it within and then live it without, namely Jesus, God the Son. He told us the problem is our heart where we really find the issues of life. He came to give us a heart change, to remove the blockages caused by sin, that sin is the force of divisive self-absorption. The only thing that can bring the heart into healing and wholeness is the free gift of forgiveness from God that penetrates the products of sin, our pride, fear and aloneness.

Now back to the volcano. Three things happen when its cone bursts. There is an eruption, a disruption and a corruption.

First, eruption.

In a volcano an eruption brings forth an enormous flow of lava, dangerous gasses, clouds of smoke and tons of ash distributed over a wide area. The same is true of sin. The internal processes are similar. The molten mass of sin is going to look for the weakest places in the heart to break through. These are the weaknesses that satan tempts. These cracks in our character are pressed on by the gasses of the devil’s spirits. Where do these cracks come from? Being born sinners we each have personalities that are quite different and each develops in a different way. Even children in the same family, even twins, react differently because of their uniqueness. Parental influence, social and peer influence, environment and physical makeup are all processed in the loneliness of each mind and heart. Each heart is born sinful, self-centered and makes its own way through life. Couple all this with the fear and uncertainty in our self-consciousness and we develop a self-protective cone over our hearts. We adjust to the world around us with a native fear cover. There is nothing perfect in us and we are tossed about in a sea of options dripping with temptations to satisfy whatever lies within the molten mass beneath. At the different points of weakness the molten mass pressures itself. Sometimes there is a minor eruption that involves only a few but there are also major eruptions that involve many.

Second, disruption.

Life is disrupted by the outpouring of a volcano. People scatter and seek refuge. The ashes and the gasses blow everywhere. When the spiritual blow occurs there is the attempt to escape the overflow through excuse, self-justification, blame and denial. Life is disrupted by the constant consciousness of the overflow. David said, ‘My sin is ever before me.’ Isaiah saw himself as unworthy before the Lord. Paul accounts as how he was the worst of sinners. The normal everyday routine of life is dented by the disruption. This spiritual disruption seeps over into everything you do. It affects relationships, concentration and its tendency to self-centeredness becomes almost obsessive. It disrupts emotional stability and throws intellectual evaluation out of balance.

Third, corruption.

A volcano’s output falls everywhere. Gasses can kill, ashes clog the atmosphere and fall on everything. The lava can destroy everything in its path. When sin erupts everything that is part of life becomes corrupted. The dynamics of the eruption and disruption of sin produce guilt, sorrow and worry. Regardless of whether one is a believer or not the erupted and disrupted heart is corrupted and the efforts to deal with it without God end up in frustration, irritation and despair. Hearts seek release through any number of routes, drugs, alcohol, sex, intellectual pursuits, church work, involvement in social projects, theater, vacations and work. Escape from it is impossible and some even take their lives to eradicate the inner pain. There is no question; the mind, the emotions and even the body are affected.

When the mind is open to believe the truth that Jesus died to relieve the pressure of sin, He neutralizes its power through forgiveness and fills us with the Holy Spirit who is the spiritual pressure reliever. It’s between us and Him, His heart and ours. When the heart is open to trust the presence of Jesus and ask Him to live in our heart, He does just that and begins a relationship in the Spirit. When our spirit receives His Spirit then we are made right by faith and His life becomes our life, which never ends.

Question…How is your volcano doing and the volcanoes around you? Offering Jesus to a friend, a colleague, a stranger or even someone in the family changes volcanoes into beautiful approachable and inviting mountains, part of a range called the Body of Christ.

Psalm 121
“1I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.
2My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth (KJV).“