The Blue Church

You have probably recognized in your own life that God has equipped you with “system scan” abilities. Usually the results of our scan show up in the form of a read-out from our conscience where we think or say to ourselves, “Something is not right with me” or “Why am I responding this way” or “That is not how God wants me to live”. Unfortunately, unlike Data, some of our more deep-seated problems are not so easy to identify, and it takes the help of our family, friends or in some cases a therapist to help access the true nature of the problem. Even then, we sometimes can’t figure out what is going on with us, let alone resolve it. It is in such instances that we might say, “I just can’t get at what the problem is.”

I do have some good news for you with regards to your somewhat limited system scan. God can help you probe the deepest part of your being and remedy the most difficult or problems if you are open to His leading. King David was aware of this possibility when he prayed to 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

I encourage you to read this Psalm in its entirety today and consider why David was so confident that God could search his heart. The short version is that David acknowledged in the Psalm that he was made by God and that God knew him intimately.  Have you ever prayed a prayer like David’s because you knew something wasn’t right about you but you just couldn’t get at it? I know that through the years I have been blessed to pray such a prayer often and have watched with great amazement as to how God searched my heart and revealed to me not only the problems I had, but the source of them. The most God-glorifying part of all this though is how God not only made me aware of the issue, but then brought me to a place (sometimes over the course of decades) where I said to Him, “Lord, I can’t fix this no matter what I do. Please help me.” I am glad to tell you that I have seen God work in my heart and resolve issues that I know I could have never addressed. I praise Him to this day for His work in my life, getting into the deepest fibers of my being and changing me for His glory.

I don’t know when the last time was that you asked God to do a system-scan of your heart but if it has been a while I recommend that you do so. Perhaps you would like to read Psalm 139 before you pray just to be encouraged in the knowledge that God knows you very personally too.

We don’t have all the superior qualities of an Android like Data but we do belong to a God who is vastly superior to any robotic device that man will ever conceive of. He won’t open up a little panel on your scalp to access your wiring. Instead He will go right into your heart and do His loving work. Read the following verse and consider what the Apostle Paul knew God would do in the hearts and lives of His people. If you don’t believe God is doing a good work in you, then ask Him to “get at that” too.

“being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6