"Wow," I said to no one in particular. But God heard me and He waited silently for me to continue. "I keep finding stuff in this mess that doesn't belong to me..." God got a strange look on His face; then He put His hand under His chin as if to allow Himself an extra minute to digest the bit of information I had chosen to disclose. "Hmmm," was all He said as He gently took me by the elbow, quietly directing me to show Him what I was referring to. "See?" I said. "There's rebellion, disobedience, impatience, procrastination, stubbornness...I know who those belong to; I have enough of my own stuff here, so I'm just going to set these aside and call them to their attention". God raised His eyebrows while He stared deep into my soul. "I think you need to examine these a little closer," He said.
A little closer examination? That's a "hard pill to swallow." I'm working hard to move this "mountain" and now I have to spend time looking at the crap I naturally want to blame on someone else? I'm motivated by the kudos and the pats on the back; hearing "great job!" or "that's some amazing work you've done!", pushes me to put forth even greater effort. But the really hard job is learning not to rationalize my way through life...to be willing to see my imperfections, my weaknesses and my shortcomings. At first it's humiliation at it's finest. Then my pride gets the best of me and I go into denial. But God still loves me. And He waits. Eventually, when I'm finished ignoring God, stomping around, and throwing myself a" pity party", He changes my heart and gently leads me through the process of purification. I've learned that God is full of grace and truth...and truth is still truth whether I choose to believe it or not.
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