I recently had the unfortunate occurrence of having a window broken in my home. I stood and stared at the broken pieces on the floor for a moment, waiting for God to provide me with a giant eraser so that I could make it NOT to have happened. And HE DID!!! . . . . No, He didn't. So with the strength He gave me for the day, I strolled my happy self over to get a waste basket and a pair of thick gloves. Then I ever so merrily (Not!) glided (Not! Not!) myself back to the place where all the little broken things were demanding my attention.
In light of another painful issue I was already dealing with, I began picking up the pieces and wondering why the window had to brake in the first place. Then I spoke to the situation, as Pastor Wisdom (his real position/title and name) had one Sunday reminded us to do. I said, “You’ll be back together again real soon. Right back into the old routine of up’s and down’s.” I chuckled to myself (I live alone, so I'm allowed to), only to stop when I saw the message in the madness . . .
I remembered reading Psalm 139, a psalm of wisdom and praise. It’s a wonderful psalm to dive into for a few minutes of reading and studying. It’s also a psalm of enlightenment, as it brings to the surface a big part of 1 Samuel 16:7b which says, “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” His looking at the heart and everything we were and will be is surely brought to light in verses 1-16 of Psalm 139. But in verses 23 and 24 the invitation is given for Him to continually reveal our sins to us. Not so that we would continually be put to shame, but so that we can stay on the straight and narrow road that leads to the Throne. Listen:
Psalm 139:23, 24 [NIV]
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 [The Message]
Investigate my life, O God, find out everything about me;
Cross-examine and test me, get a clear picture of what I'm about;
See for yourself whether I've done anything wrong—
then guide me on the road to eternal life.
Looking again at the pieces of that shattered window, I was reminded of how shattered my life once was. And realizing how we Christians cut to the quick in blaming Satan, thereby giving him the credit for destroying our lives, I began to wonder how much of it was my own fault-- how many sins were in the deepest parts of my heart, just left there simmering and unaccounted for. When was the last time I had asked God to “search me, investigate my life, find out everything about me, and know my heart”? And when was the last time I had asked Him to reveal to me those fragments of sin that I could not see?
Recognizing now a purpose for my shattered window, I saw the big pieces as issues or sins that everyone could see. We try to clean those up quickly. The small pieces are issues or sins that those close to us can see. We get around to cleaning those up next, but in a “by-the-way” manner. The still smaller pieces are issues or sins that others can see, but only if we reveal them. And the tiny pieces are the issues or sins that must be revealed to us.
“See if there is any offensive way in me . . .” “then guide me on the road to eternal life”. [24] Is there anything in me, Lord, that I can't see? Anything in me that puts a strain on our relationship, and threatens my walk to the Throne?
As I vacuumed away the tiniest pieces of glass, I asked the Lord to release His Holy Spirit into my present being, to reveal to me those issues or sins I could not see that had been left simmering and unaccounted for, to vacuum them out of their hiding places, and to cast them into the Sea of Forgetfulness. Then I asked Him to somehow remind me daily to say,
“Investigate my life, O God, find out everything about me; Cross-examine and test me, get a clear picture of what I'm about; See for yourself whether I've done anything wrong— then guide me on the road to eternal life.”
[vsm]
PS: I eventually did finish cleaning up all the glass. Anyone want to help me buy another window?
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