We drove through beautiful central Pennsylvania today on the way to my Grandma’s funeral…but we couldn’t see most of the scenery for the first part of the trip! The fog did clear and we got to see what was hidden eventually.
Do you ever feel like your beauty, value, or worth is hidden?
Do you ever find yourself thinking something like, “Only God can see my heart”? While that may be true, that should challenge us to make sure our hearts are right. Sometimes it’s the hidden things that no one else sees that need to be dealt with most of all.
In Job 18, one of Job’s “friends” again assumes they’ve got it all figured out. They assume Job is being punished for his sin (even though we know that’s not true). Verse 21 says, “Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked, And this is the place of him that knoweth not God.”
Job responds by first asking, “How long will ye vex my soul, and break me in pieces with words?”
I understand Job’s frustration and response. I don’t think there was any change he needed to make based on the harsh criticism he received, but it’s probably easy for all of us to shut down when we are criticized. It’s easy to say “only God knows my heart” and that’s true. But that should also be an encouragement for us to examine our own heart. I think Job did that, and I hope each of us will too.
1 Corinthians 11:31 says, “For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.”
Psalms 139:23 says, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:”
No matter how unfair the criticism, we should always be willing to allow God to show us if there’s some way we can grow and improve. Even imperfect criticism can be used by our perfect God to help us become more like Jesus.
Instead of ignoring the hidden stuff no one can see, let’s take every opportunity we have to grow more like Jesus inside and out.