The Hidden Reason of Action - Part 2

Let me first start by saying, not every action has a deeper, hidden reason. Obviously when I go get a drink of water, there isn't a deep reason seeded within my heart that is creating the desire for water. And even a lot of complex decisions we make don't spring from a hidden reason. But I know for me, I do have a significant amount of choices that come from deeper reasons, most of the time from fears.

Secondly, I would like to say, that I am only speaking from personal experience. I don't know the intricacies of everyones heart and I have no idea what you have been through in your life. But I do know that "the purpose in a man's heart is like deep water" (Proverbs 20:5) And I know that most of the time I don't really understand what's going on in my heart. So these thoughts are only coming from my experience and the wisdom that I have gained from older, wiser sisters.

Usually the way I can tell if there is something deeper going on than the surface answer I am giving, is that the decision or circumstance is stirring a lot of emotion within me (i.e. anger, sadness, fear, etc). And recognizing what that emotion is where I need to start in order to figure out what the root reason is. Once I have acknowledged the emotion I can then ask myself questions to burrow down into the depths of my heart. Let's take the example of our Star Trek Voyager friend B'Elanna.

If I was in B'Elanna's shoes and I recognized that I was getting very emotional about my daughter being part Klingon, I would sit down with the Lord and first ask the Lord to reveal to me the true intentions of my heart. Then I would start asking myself and God these kinds of questions:
~ "God, what's the big deal? Why do I want my daughter to not be a Klingon?"
      - Because I don't want her to experience what I experienced as a child.
~ "What did I experience as a child?"
      - Other kids made fun of me and my father left me and my mother.
~ "Am I afraid that the same thing will happen to her?"
      - Yes
~ "Am I afraid that if she is a Klingon, Tom will leave just like my father left?"
      - Yes (at this point I would probably be in tears, which is a good sign that I have hit a sensitive nerve which is probably the root issue).

Now obviously these questions got right down to the point because I knew what the real issue was in this example. But this shows the kind of process that I need to take in order to get down to the real reason that is driving what I am doing. Sometimes this process can take a lot of time and a lot of prayer and sometimes it takes only a few moments; every time is different.

But it's only when I take the time to process through things like this that I can find victory and my actions and emotions can change. Otherwise I remain ignorant of the state of my heart and continue to respond to situations from a heart that is not trusting in the Lord but is responding out of fear. And that is sin because anything that does not come from faith is sin (Romans 14:23).