Resting In Grace Exemple

I cringe reading Psalm 26:2, which tells of how David, the psalmist, invited God to search His heart. Why would I want God to try me or test my heart and mind? There’s a lifetime of junk built up on the walls of my heart. There are calluses from hurts and memories of sin I wish I could forget. And my mind is often jumbled with insecurity and doubt, not perfect faith. But that’s exactly why I need the best doctor to perform a heart and mind scan. So I can be healed.

Verse 3 reveals the reason the psalmist is so confident asking for God’s examination,  “for I have always been mindful of your unfailing love and have lived in reliance on your faithfulness.” (NIV)

The psalmist requested God’s heart scan and trusted the results because he knew God would perform it lovingly and faithfully. We too can trust Him to search our deepest desires and tenderly lead us to truth. Sometimes His truth can be hard to hear, but it will help us battle negative or sinful thoughts and produce a healthy soul and mind.

I need help with that. I need God to come in and show me which thoughts are of faith and which are of fright. I need His surgical hand to cut out anything that isn’t love or truth. I don’t always know the difference, but the Holy Spirit does and He will show me what’s right as I read my Bible. My recovery from God’s heart surgery may take some time, but it will make me stronger.

Do you make a practice of inviting God to search your heart, and if so, what does that look like? If not, how might doing so bring you to ever-deepening freedom?

~Andrea Chatelain