Many lost souls travel the world, but return home empty and unfulfilled. Only the wise pay attention to Solomon’s words in Ecclesiastes. Every season brings both joy and sorrows. Only a pure, honest, and searching heart discovers what is true, pure, and good in all things.  Trials produce our character. As we have Christ within us, we seek His hand at work in every situation. Look back and thank God that whenever a person set out to hurt us, or our plans failed, our Father flipped it into a lesson of beauty as He reveals a greater blessing. Some souls choose to feel wrecked by defeat and disappointment.  Be encouraged to take hold of the promises of God and be assured in spirit that it is never too late to build a beautiful character out of our lost dreams and tragic experiences.

Even a tiny bird will teach us a lesson if we are paying attention.  Birds do not fret after a storm rips their babies from the nest. We hear them singing as they rebuild the nest.  When our best plans get shattered, let us not weep in despair, but rise and sing again. No one can undo a tragedy. No soul can repair the ruins of those years that the locust destroyed. BUT GOD CAN! We must look ahead and cling to the HOPE within us. HE who is greater than all that the world boasts about dwells within us.  Let us lay all our burdens at our Father’s feet, and like a little child caught with it’s finger in the cookie jar, may we rest on His chest as He banishes all our teary eyed regrets. Oh, to go back across the years long vanished, to have the ugly words unsaid, the selfish deeds undone, the errors cancelled, the deep shadows erased forever, in the glad sense of a fresh start. To be a little child whose story has just begun again. Oh Lord, help us rediscover our purpose in You. May the shadow of Your cross banish all other shadows that surround us. Father, shine a light on our souls and make us buoyant with a word of hope.  Let us run our best race and not be weary. Enable us to carry the blessing of Your truth by our testimony of Your faithfulness. Amen

Poets and lyric writers tell us that our truest friend is the one who does not hesitate to hold a mirror to our face. Nevertheless, we do not like it.  There are undoubtedly faults within us that we ourselves do not see. Our eyes are set in our heads to look outward, not inward. Therefore, it is easier for us to detect flaws in others than in ourselves. This means that most of us have imperfections of which we are entirely unaware. We all have many unknown, hidden things within, both good and bad, that others may or may not see. We are unable to reveal ourselves perfectly to ourselves or to our closest companions. We all desperately need Jesus.

Without any intention to hide a thing, even with our  desire to live transparently, we are blind to many things that are buried in the deep parts of our soul.  With sharp honesty, we only admit any selfish motive to ourselves. Our friends may praise our good deeds, but we know that our best intention was blurred by a self seeking purpose. On the flip side, some criticize a wrong spirit in our doing when we know in our heart that it was true love that prompted the act. We are both better and worse than others think us to be. The best aspects of a humble life are never made public.  None of us can show God all that He knows needs His graceful hand. Just as there are countless stars in the heavens that no human eye ever sees, much of our inner struggle remains unseen. Human lives are deeper than the heavens where the stars are set.

Even in the depths of the most ordinary soul, there are more hidden splendors than visible ones. Who among us can fully express the truth when speaking about the loving kindness of our Lord ? What singer ever captures the melody in their soul within a single song ? What painter can transfer all the beauty of their vision to a canvas? What Christian ever lives out perfect loyalty to Christ ? Who walks in purity, holiness, and gentle sweetness all the time? Are we unselfishness as we help? Does God’s lavish grace show in our public and private life? We fail and fall, but our Lord may use the voice of a friend to lift our shame that we shine again. Halleluiah indeed as glimmers of His light begin to radiate hope through us once more.

We do not know what struggles, what acts of repentance, what efforts to improve, what sorrowful tears, or what deep longings for God and heaven exist in the heart of even the most depraved person. As His ambassadors, hopefully we portray His grace even though every life is in the process of sanctification. Human eyes cannot our envy, or detect bittetness that lingers in our hearts. Holy Spirit works in us to make us aware. All of us are semi conscious of miserable things hidden within. Those habititual critical thoughts,  those recurring unholy thoughts, ugly passions and tempers, and the stirrings of pride, vanity, self-conceit, envy, jealousy, all which are not visible to anyone else.

Our Father does not leave us as He found us. His Spirit reveals hidden doubts. He  whispers in a soft voice to repent of a pride that dims our glow.  No matter how good or how bad we think we are, no honest soul ever journals all of what we truly think, what we do, what we felt. Why? There are selfish motives, shaming faults, unlovely things, and sins in our hearts of which we ourselves cannot bare. But there is an eye that pierces deeper than our own into our souls. Jesus is our final Judge so upon our own heart inspection, we confess what we know, but God knows all our motives. We all thus harbor sins of ignorance. Only God sees us through and through. We live daily in anticipation of His inspection and approval. We cannot see our own faults even as our neighbors see them. The Pharisee in his prayer, spoke much of other people’s sins but saw none in himself.

Do not wander off to follow the way of Balaam. He was a man who loved the adulation and flattery of others. In front of a most distinguished audience, Balaam made a fool of himself as he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey. Those Balaam hoped to impress heard him talk to a donkey, like a beast could understand. For God’s  anointed who seek to impress others, our heavenly Father humbles all who seek favor from anyone but Him. Jesus warns His sheep in Revelation that He knows our every selfish motive.  There are some in the body of Christ who hold to the teaching of Balaam. They appear harmless and sound wise, but they ask for money to pray for the sick as they promote another gospel. They entice others to sin by participating in ungodly rituals, as they place the idol of sports, music, or family above Jesus, who died to give them new life.  Revelation 2:14. It does not end well for those who live life without a good friend that will speak the truth in love to point out the obvious things in our life that dishonor God. Numbers 25:4 The Lord told Moses, “Take all the leaders of these people, kill them and expose them in broad daylight before the Lord, so that the Lord’s fierce anger may turn away from Israel. As a result of Balaam teaching, those who died in the plague numbered 24,000.” Lord have mercy on us. AMEN

Matthew 22:38-39 “This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Our God is jealous for our devotion. Luke 14:26 “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate His own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even His own life, he cannot be My disciple.” The strong commitment required to follow Jesus keeps Him first above all relationships, including family. Matthew 10:37 “Whoever loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.” Following Jesus requires a deep commitment that may seem harsh, but the living Word is clear.”Love God  above all else.”

Examine your heart, confess what you know, trust that nothing can separate us from the love of God. Our Father already knows all. Because God loves us, He gave His Son to pay the full penalty for our sins. AMEN