Reciting the words of Psalm 139:23 always makes me a bit nervous.
Asking God to look through the deepest darkest parts of my heart isn't the easiest thing to do. I mean, He's already done it. He already sees my heart. But when I invite Him to do a survey of my heart, I'm also asking Him to expose those things to me, and give me something to pray over and work on. So I'm not afraid of God knowing what's in the darkest recesses of my heart, but me knowing what's in there.
But the last time I hesitated to pray this verse, God sent me an analogy: Asking God to search your heart is kind of like going to the dentist.
(stay with me here)
Now I don't know about you all--maybe you have flawless sparkling teeth--but if a dentist were to stick a little light and scraper thing into my mouth, I'd be terrified. Because I'm pretty sure I've got some not-good things going on in there. So I'd rather just avoid the dentist.
But the thing is, if I keep on going with the cavities and whatever else in my mouth, they'll only get worse. So if the dentist doesn't examine my mouth and fix the problems now, things could get really bad--like, gum cancer/teeth pulling/dentures bad.
It's kind of similar with our hearts.
(keep staying with me)
We've all got something evil in there, no matter how pure and great we seem on the surface. God knows what's in our hearts and offers to expose it so it can be fixed.
But if we let fear consume us, then the evil will only get worse--much worse than dentures or even gum cancer.
If we truly want to have "clear consciences before God" (Acts 24:16) and make progress in Christ, we need to be willing to let God sift through the mess in our hearts and pull out the dark parts. And we know that anything He finds can be conquered through Him.
So let's pray regularly over Psalm 139:23 to keep our hearts healthy, pure, and clear before God.
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Yay! Ya stayed with me! ^_^ What do you all think of this devotional-style post? It's pretty new for me but I'd really like to share more about God and what He's doing for me . Would ya like more like this? What are your thoughts on Psalm 139? Let me know in the comments!
Asking God to look through the deepest darkest parts of my heart isn't the easiest thing to do. I mean, He's already done it. He already sees my heart. But when I invite Him to do a survey of my heart, I'm also asking Him to expose those things to me, and give me something to pray over and work on. So I'm not afraid of God knowing what's in the darkest recesses of my heart, but me knowing what's in there.
But the last time I hesitated to pray this verse, God sent me an analogy: Asking God to search your heart is kind of like going to the dentist.
(stay with me here)
Now I don't know about you all--maybe you have flawless sparkling teeth--but if a dentist were to stick a little light and scraper thing into my mouth, I'd be terrified. Because I'm pretty sure I've got some not-good things going on in there. So I'd rather just avoid the dentist.
But the thing is, if I keep on going with the cavities and whatever else in my mouth, they'll only get worse. So if the dentist doesn't examine my mouth and fix the problems now, things could get really bad--like, gum cancer/teeth pulling/dentures bad.
It's kind of similar with our hearts.
(keep staying with me)
We've all got something evil in there, no matter how pure and great we seem on the surface. God knows what's in our hearts and offers to expose it so it can be fixed.
But if we let fear consume us, then the evil will only get worse--much worse than dentures or even gum cancer.
If we truly want to have "clear consciences before God" (Acts 24:16) and make progress in Christ, we need to be willing to let God sift through the mess in our hearts and pull out the dark parts. And we know that anything He finds can be conquered through Him.
So let's pray regularly over Psalm 139:23 to keep our hearts healthy, pure, and clear before God.
Search me, 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
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Yay! Ya stayed with me! ^_^ What do you all think of this devotional-style post? It's pretty new for me but I'd really like to share more about God and what He's doing for me . Would ya like more like this? What are your thoughts on Psalm 139? Let me know in the comments!
I loved this, Olivia! Devotional posts are amazing, and this verse is one that I love too. Letting God search every part of us is so important, yet it's something I tend to put off way too easily. I'd love more posts like this, yes!
ReplyDeleteThanks Autumn! So excited to hear you enjoyed this! I'll definitely post more like this ^_^
DeleteAhhh, such a good reminder!
ReplyDeleteThanks Rach! ^_^
DeleteI Loved it babe, keep up the good work! Love you #
DeleteAw thank you Auntie! Love you too! ♥
DeleteWOW YES PRAISE I FEEL THE SAME WAY
ReplyDeleteYAYAYAY HAPPY TO KNOW I'M NOT ALONE ^_^
DeleteTHIS IS SUCH A GOOD REMINDER THANK YOU
ReplyDeleteYOU'RE WELCOME & THANK YOUUU FOR COMMENTING ^_^
DeleteYesss. This was so good - convicting and encouraging at the same time. Inspirational devotional type posts are my favourite, so I'm so glad you're getting into them! It's awesome to read how God's been leading and inspiring others. xx
ReplyDeleteThank you Jessica! I'm glad I could be encouraging and that you liked this post! ^_^ Yesss I love reading about that too, and I love getting to share that now. Thanks for commenting! :)
DeleteBlessings upon blessings..it's always so refreshing to see the youth allow God to shine through them. I loved the Dentist analogy it's clear cut and very easy to relate to. Asking God to search our heart is the easy part, accepting what he reveals to us is something else. Truly wanting to live a life pleasing and acceptable to him means we have to accept the mess that's revealed and allow the potter to reshape us to his Glory. I would continue reading your blogs. Never conform to the foolishness of this world, the light that shines through you blesses others on so many levels. Much love Lil cuz!! Oqua
ReplyDeleteHeyyy big cuz! Ohmygoodness thank you so much for commenting and leaving such encouraging words ❤ It truly is hard out here as a young Christian so your encouragement means a lot! I'm glad that analogy did make sense; it sounded good in my head at first but then when I wrote it down I was like "ehh?" Haha, I agree with everything you said. Love you much too! And love to the family! ♥
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