Examine Me, O Lord

Examine Me, O Lord

Jeremiah 1: 6-9

Whenever I am asked to communicate something of a spiritual nature, my first thought is, “Lord, what do they need to hear from You?” Honestly, I don’t really care if you ever remember a thing I say but, if you hear from the Lord that is all that matters. I have always been struck with the Lord telling some prophet, “And this is what you are to say…” If they didn’t, it was on their heads. If it didn’t come true exactly as the Lord said, then the people would know it wasn’t the Lord. High bar. Sobering. Lord, just do for me what You did for Jeremiah, please!

Jeremiah 1:6-9 ESV: “Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord.” Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.””

Yeah, that. I will keep this pretty simple.

I think the mid-January women’s event on “Having a Fruitful Time in God’s Word” was a truly blessed and inspired time. I heard so many deep discussions not only at my table but others reported the same thing. We all need to connect with God and have Him speak into our lives. We won’t make it if that doesn’t happen. I can’t emphasize that enough and I have tears in my eyes as I think about this. How does one make sense of this life without God in the picture?

At the event I mentioned that I wasn’t very good at journaling. I’m trying to work on that a little more. In looking back over my journal, I was amused by what I found: sermon notes, verses, favorite quotes, events of the day, ramblings, frustrations. The following was the most unglamorous and yet the Lord was speaking to me that day pretty intensely. I was feeling selfish and the Lord was in my face about it.

June 15th:
There are consequences to sin. There are consequences to sin. There are consequences to sin. There are consequences to sin. There are consequences to sin. There are consequences to sin. There are consequences to sin. There are consequences to sin. There are consequences to sin. There are consequences to sin. There are consequences to sin. There are consequences to sin. There are consequences to sin. There are consequences to sin.

Don’t forget!

Yep… 14 of those. It wasn’t getting through my thick skull and heart. It sounds just like it felt. I was banging my head against a wall. I was trying to remind myself that most of the crud that I deal with is a result of forgetting this reality. There are crises (turning points) for all of us where we need to remind ourselves of this truth.

Psalm 26 NASB: “Examine me, O Lord, and try me; Test my mind and my heart. For Your loving-kindness is before my eyes, and I have walked in Your truth. O Lord, I love the habitation of Your house and the place where Your glory dwells.”

I’m not gonna lie. That day I was not passing the test. However, the loving-kindness of God, thinking more about God’s glory and the ultimate end of it all made me come around. I do want to be where the glory of God dwells.

He is good…. Very blessed,

Dawn Harris