Searchlights & Spiritual Shark Attacks - Part 2

God has x-ray vision. No really - He does! He can see right through to our heart much better than we can. He sees past our behaviors (no matter how righteous they appear) and goes straight to the innermost parts of our soul that we hide away from even ourselves.

God’s about the only one we can’t fool with what looks good or sounds good or smells good and He WILL call us on the truth about ourselves. I need someone who cares about me enough to tell me the truth (sans the baseball bat) when I’m blind to it, or in denial about it, or choosing to ignore it. Come on admit it - you have your moments of blindness and foolishness too.

And then there’s the times when the truth about my heart is easy to spot - for everyone except me. Have you ever had a friend tell you about some quirk you have or how you always react to something and the best you can come up with is a defensive “Nuh, uh - I do not!” To which your beloved friend just smirks and says, “Yeah, whatever”. Of course we feel compelled to deflect and justify ourselves with the snappy comeback of, “Oh yeah? Well, you want to know what you do?…”

Sadly, our reality is often less than benign banter between friends. Past hurts and current fears color our perspective and rule our choices. As a result, we act in self-protective and hurtful ways toward others. Sometimes we’re oblivious to our insensitivity. Other times we feel self-justified in being controlling, biting someone’s head off, acting in passive-aggressive ways or being just plain mean - and it’s all speaking volumes about the condition of our heart and our character.

If we’ve chosen to follow God then we can be sure He will deal with us about this stuff.

There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears. Philippians 1:6 (MSG)

God will have His way with us, because He loves us and can’t bear us to be less than who He made us to be. Why? Because we were made in His image and we were meant to reflect His glory!

Knowing this, we can either cooperate with His process of housecleaning and personal growth customized just for us….. or fight against Him. (Ahh, guess what your chance of success will be fighting against the God who spoke the universe into existence?)

Here’s what it looks like when we fight against Him and make it hard on ourselves…

He who heeds discipline shows the way to life, but whoever ignores correction leads others astray. Proverbs 10:17 (NIV)

Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid. Proverbs 12:1 (NIV)

If we stick our fingers in our ears while shouting, “la-la-la-la-la, I can’t hear you so talk to the hand”, God will simply increase the firmness of his discipline and it will become more and more painful - AND we’ll inflict pain on others.

Bear in mind - not everything God wants to get our attention about pertains to what we’re DOING wrong. Oftentimes He wants to show us where our heart is in pain and where our perspective has been skewed from what’s happened TO us. That junk doesn’t just go away because we ignore it! It can become downright cancerous in our soul and lead us to DO wrong in attitude and action.

Here’s what it looks like when we cooperate with Him and WANT to improve - even when it hurts to see the truth…

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139:23-24 (NIV)

It still doesn’t feel great but it’s much better than the alternative! Trust me - ANYTHING GOD REVEALS HE INTENDS TO HEAL. Then you can MOVE ON and breathe freely again! He’s done it in my life over, and over, and over, and over… and He’ll do it in yours if you’ll ask Him.

So Whatcha Gonna Do About That?

Ask God to shine His searchlight in your heart and show you the truth about what’s there…

* the good qualities
* the broken and wounded sections
* the character issues
* the resentments
* the lies you’ve bought into about yourself and/or others
* the things you’ve made “agreements” with Satan about (which gives him permission to set up camp in that area of your life)

Be aware - this is not a one time process, but rather a WAY OF LIFE - a daily practice! Think about it… a whole heck of alot can happen in the course of a day, can it not? So, each day we need to bring our heart before God to diagnose what’s there.

At first this will be uncomfortable - and I won’t sugar coat this - it may be downright painful. But take comfort in the fact that the longer you practice this personal discipline, with all sincerity, dealing as best you can with what He shows you, the less difficult it will become. Once the initial laundry list is cleaned up it’s just a matter of keeping short accounts, if you know what I mean.

Now a piece of good news! When you clean house and are cooperating with God to bring healing and wholeness to the deepest parts of your soul then you’ve stopped freely bleeding in the water. Are you following me?… That means you can now deflect the “shark attacks”!

God, I think I’m ready now. I’m inviting you to search every corner of my heart and show me what’s there. Show me what YOU like and what YOU don’t like because I know I am quite capable of deluding myself and I’d rather walk in truth from this point on. I’m nervous about what you might open my eyes to, but I’m not going to retreat. My old way of life has been less than the best you have for me and I’m hungry for more. So let’s start here, right now, with the condition of my heart. Help me to know what you want me to do with what you show me. Bring healing into those areas that are hurting so my heart can be whole and ready for whatever is next in this adventure I’ve embarked on. Thanks for caring so much about me.

Until next time,
Annette

HELPFUL RESOURCES

In the "Declaration of My Choices", refer to the following sections:

* I choose to guard my heart and renew my mind. Therefore, I will…
(bullet points #1, 9)

* I choose to love and worship. Therefore, I will…
(bullet points #1, #2, #3, #4)

* I choose to BE who I am and reach for who I was meant to be. Therefore, I will…
(bullet point #4)

The "Declaration of My Choices" is available as a FREE resource when you sign up to receive the www.LIFEwithGodDevotional.com every-other-day FREE Devotional and monthly Newsletter.