What’s in the Corners of Your Heart?
By Crystal Warr
The other day while cleaning, I went up to my oldest daughter’s room. To my surprise, the space looked perfect on the surface—not a thing out of place and with her prized possessions proudly displayed.
But as I moved through the room, I noticed a pile of random items shoved into a corner behind a tall mirror. Leftover holiday trinkets, old toys and nick knacks triggered my frustration. Why would she go through the effort of making her room look so perfect while hiding all this mess?
Then, the Holy Spirit gently nudged me: What do you have shoved into the corners of your heart?
That question hit hard.
I realized I’ve been guilty of the same thing. How often do we focus on making our hearts look nice on the surface, hoping that God (and others) will only see what we’ve polished and arranged so carefully? We shove away the uglier things—the messes from past hurts, the things that should have been let go long ago—as if hiding them will make them disappear.
But God isn’t content with just the tidy, polished parts. If our heart is truly His home, He wants to be present in every corner, not just the parts that look “good.” He doesn’t want an aesthetically pleasing entryway with a mess hidden in the scenes. He wants to inhabit each room of our hearts, and He wants to help us sort through the junk, showing us what can be redeemed, what needs to go, and what He can transform into something beautiful.
Honestly, my first reaction to my daughter’s hidden mess wasn’t gentle. I thought about marching down to her school, bringing her home, and showing her the mess she’d tucked away. But, in that moment, I felt the Holy Spirit’s guidance—helping me parent with grace instead of frustration. God’s heart toward us is much the same: He sees our hidden messes, the things we’d rather not acknowledge, but He doesn’t storm in to shame us. He gently calls us to let Him in, to trust Him with every part of our hearts.
Imagine your heart as a house with different rooms. The living room may be clean and inviting, where you put on your best for God and others. But what about the attic, full of old hurts and hidden regrets? Or the basement, where you keep secrets buried away? God isn’t interested in dwelling only in the “nice” rooms. He wants to move through every space, filling it with His love and light. He wants to clean out the corners, not to make us feel ashamed, but to bring freedom and healing.
What if we invited God to every part of our hearts—not just the “public” spaces but the hidden corners too? What if we trusted Him with the brokenness we’ve shoved aside, the parts of our story we’re still wrestling with & stuff that should be thrown away? When we let God fully into our hearts, we experience a love that isn’t put off by our mess but instead transforms it into something new and beautiful.
Today, let’s ask ourselves: What have I hidden in the corners of my heart? Let’s invite God into every room, every corner, trusting that He wants to be fully at home in us, mess and all. His love is patient, His grace is kind, and He’ll never turn away from the work of transforming us from the inside out.
Prayer:
Dear Lord, Thank you, that you are a loving, kind and good Father. Because of your character, I can trust you with anything. I invite you into all of the spaces that I tend to tuck away-even the ones that I try and forget about myself. Your word says that, perfect love drives out fear.” (1 John 4:18)
I invite YOUR love to help reveal and heal anything that I have tried to stuff away or heal in my own mite. Thank you for your goodness and kindness towards me.
In Jesus Name, Amen.
