"I need ALL of you" I heard the Lord speak. ALL
of me. He wants the good, the bad, and the ugly. He wants the things I am
ashamed of. He wants the pains, the struggles, the frustrations, the questions.
ALL.
Notice He didn't say He
"wants." Though He does want all of us, in order to work in us, He NEEDS our
cooperation.
We have to quit shoving
things under the rug with God. It's impossible to love Him with all of our
heart, mind, soul, body, and strength - as we claim we do, if we don't give Him
all of it. Just as an earthly relationship with secrets, it's those very things
that destroy the intimacy and damage the relationship. We need to expose to Him
the things He already sees - which in turn grants Him permission to heal, mend,
and adjust our mindsets so we can be all we are called to be in
Him.
Anything
unrevealed will not be healed; will not be cleaned or made whole. If I spill
something on the floor and leave it undealt with or carelessly spot clean, the
damage remains. It may be visible damage or it may be damage that is only seen
when the carpet is removed. In order to restore or fix the "spills" in our
lives, we have to confront them head on by allowing God in. We must allow Him to
shine His healing presence on the condition. When our "free will" chooses to
let God in, He then has something to work with.
Upon opening
the door to Him in ALL areas, we then need to trust Him. Trust Him that whatever
He tells us is for our benefit and the benefit of others. Trust Him that even if
what He tells us is painful at the moment, it's always for our greater good. He
may require you to rip out the carpet to get to the spill. You may be, along
with God, restoring the floor. Not an easy task. Not a joy ride... but His
purpose is always greater... It's always to get you to the other side - to the
side of His will - because He knows that it is in His perfect will, in His
presence, joy and fulfillment are found.
I challenge
you to surrender your ALL. Expect Him to do some rearranging because He will.
His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts are higher than our
thoughts... He won't always do what we are comfortable with. The process isn't
always a quick work because anything rushed is rarely done well.
Quiet
yourself. Wait on Him. His voice is calling out, "Give Me ALL of you."
(Matthew 22:37, Isaiah 55:9,
Psalm 16:11, Psalm 139:23, Psalm 51:10-12, Isaiah 53:4-5, Psalm 30:11, Jeremiah
29:11, Jeremiah 18:4)
