The Inspection

When I tell you Jesus is REAL!! I just love how he deals with me.  He gives revelation in the oddest ways to me, but I love it. I hope you can relate:

I have children. Each different, each special. They all have a similarity though, surface cleaning. I will admit, I'm busy:  four kids, a husband, job, ministry responsibilities and life in general.  So, I have an "honor" system. I trust that if I ask if your room is clean and you say yes, than it is. However, I have wisdom and will take some time to go see for myself. This weekend proved to be a task for my youngest girl.  She had stuff hidden in corners that I didn't even know existed. In frustration I had her pull everything out and prepare to clean her room properly.  Mind you, this all started with a missing jean jacket.

I'd left her for about thirty minutes before I was led back upstairs. I looked at her face. She was overwhelmed. It was just too much. She had laundry that she'd tucked away at the back of her closet which I knew was recently washed and many other items that should have been properly placed somewhere. It was a mess! It was pure chaos and I couldn't allow myself to walk away and leave her in the pile of clutter that was going to have her bound in her room for two days. I knew it was too much for her to tackle alone. Although I was angry to see what I saw hidden in the corners of her room, the stash in the back of the closet and everything tucked away under her bed, the grace of the Lord hit me and reminded me of when I was small. I could feel myself in her, looking at the room, not knowing where to start or where to finish, but wanting be done so my mom would be happy.

When I told her I would help her, you could literally see the weight of it all just leave her small body. She seemed like she wanted to float. I did what I could to get her started and only asked that she fully participated. She did the best she could for one hour and we called it a night. The next morning, I tackled the big stuff, cleared off her floor and brought her back in the room to examine my work. It was a long way from finished, I'd just gotten the "obvious" mess. There was other messes that were there due to my neglect that she wouldn't look for, too small clothes, or just too many. I'd made up in my mind to minimize her haul. Because she has so much, it's easy to believe and understand how keeping such a mass in order in such a small space was impossible. I empathized with her. God's grace ministered to me and I didn't even know it.

It was a taxing day for both of us. Both of us exhausted, cranky and moody but once completely finished, we were elated. We were able to relax and enjoy one another and then I believe she understood where I was coming from and I understood her.

It was when I got out of the shower that God reminded me that his word says that He is the searcher of the hearts and minds of men. I first wondered why that scripture would drop on me. Then I thought back of my day and how it could relate.

Often times we as people, believe that we have it all together, we are surface clean. I mean so much so that we have the world fooled to believe that we are so in connection with God with our sharp clothes, new vehicles and "put together" selves that we forget he will come to examine us.

I think of the cockiness we exude to believe that we can spend the time in our rooms (our lives, the churches, our positions, our titles) often doing nothing but what we think will please the eye. Oh what happens when mommy or daddy comes to step into the room instead of walking passed the door? The shock that was on my baby's face was enough to know more was going on. I know that she preferred me to not have come in the room but just rather pass by.

Rev. 3:20 says, "Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends."

If I'd gone up to her room and it was clean, as she claimed, then she would have welcomed me with open arms.  How often does Christ come to see about us, how often has been at the doors of our heart knocking, seeking entrance, but our rooms (lives) are so messed up that we can't do a quick straightening up because we know that he's coming to see if we've done a deep cleaning.  We're not ready.  We can't hide our truths so we avoid him or prepare for the worse, judgement.

But I thank God that he is gracious.  The same grace that he allowed me to show my daughter is the same grace that he will give you.  Although we may believe and even know that our lives are not ready for the final judgment, during this time of grace, Christ will get into the mess with us and will help us get into the deep and hidden places to clean us up and make us presentable to Him.  

Jer. 33:8 - ”I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned and by which they have transgressed against Me."

To add clarity, based on the scripture, we cannot help God help us, we have to be yielded and open to the exposure of the hidden things we often believe we can keep hidden at times of examination.  We can't.  Trust that God, our Father is an excellent Father.  If we want him to fully bless us, we have to have the sense to know that he desires all or nothing and is not up for negotiations.

I could have went to the hard side with this easily but won't.  I will say this.  Don't take the grace of God as an option to surface clean.  Trust that he will stop by and see about you for himself.

When he does and how he does, will you be ready?