Search Me O God....

I have had the Jesus Calling devotional for awhile now. I love to go in and read the posts and the scriptures and I find that even if I've read them before, there's a new gem of knowledge every time. Today's devotional was no different.

Today's devotional had a snippet from Psalms 139. However, it is one of those Psalms that I start reading a few verses and end up reading the entire Psalm as it is soooo on point at that moment.

The verses that stuck out to me today were 23 and 24. These verses kind of get in your face and make you stop and thinks. They are also quite dangerous. Did you know the scripture could be dangerous?

The scriptures say:

"Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting".

Search me. When you truly ask for God to search your heart, get ready. What happens when you take a light and shine it in the dark places? Things that have tried to hide from the light are seen. Things that would rather stay in the darkness are found out and have to be dealt with. Consider a bug. It hides in the dark because it "knows" it will be dealt with in the light. Darkness provides it security to do what it wants.

When we ask God to search us, we will have things in our heart brought in to the light. When we pray this we need to be ready to allow God to bring those things to our attention, and then to deal with them with His grace and mercy.

Think about this. We all have a room in our house, you know the one. The one that the door is shut any time guests are there because it has all the clutter and storage from other rooms that need to be dealt with. They need to be dealt with and put away or gotten rid of, however we aren't ready to handle them yet.

Basically we are asking God to come clean up our room. The room of our heart. Where cobwebs and dirt can seep in and cause major problems if we do not deal with it. Hard feelings. Bitterness. Hurt. Lies. Becoming lazy in our faith walk. Holding hurt against others. Thoughts and feelings that we need to leave at the foot of the cross instead of in our heart.

If you read the rest of Psalm 139 it talks about the fact that there's no where you can go that God doesn't know. There's no where you can hide that He doesn't see. He knows what's in your heart already, but when you ask Him to search your heart, it's asking Him to help you deal with those things that are there. Find any wicked way in me, God and help me to deal with it.

As dangerous as it can be, it's also freeing and amazing to have God lift those burdens of things you're holding on to. When God comes in and searches your heart, and you're ready to deal with what He shows you, things change. Your faith grows. Your burden is lighter. And God do more through you than you ever imagined.

That's my prayer this year. As I'm learning how to Be Still and let God take care of things, I feel He's also wanting to search my heart. God, I pray that you search me and that I'm ready to handle what you find. The dark places that I may have hidden away or the places that are filled with junk. Search me God, and know my heart...