Let God Show You Your Whole Heart

2 Chronicles 25:2 ~ And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, yet not with a whole heart.

I was reading in 2 Chronicles today and this verse jumped out at me. Since Chronicles is all about the succession of kings, what they did when they reigned, how they honored or dishonored God, and so forth; so I’m inclined to read this book quickly…skimming at times if I am completely honest! I have to make myself slow down when I realize what I am doing. At times it is like reading a novel series where the same thing seems to happen over and over; different characters but same story ~ man becomes King, man pledges to follow God’s will, man wins battles and gets a big head, man decides to step out on his own will, man is struck down by God.

I’ve found myself wondering how so many kings who proclaimed to follow God or were raised in a home that proclaimed to follow God could fall into this pattern over and over again. Today I caught a glimpse of what could be the answer…both for the kings of old and us today.

How often do I (we) follow the letter of the law to be the ‘good Christian’ but do it without a whole heart? Obedience with less than a whole heart might look like this:

• Grumbling under our breath or out loud to others as we choose to honor God in our actions and choices when we’d rather do it another way or be doing what our friends are doing.
• Volunteering at church or in the community because we want people to notice us and see that we are important.
• Stepping out in a calling God has put on our lives with visions of notoriety or wealth.
  

This list could be quite long if we all were deeply honest with ourselves. God calls us to follow Him with a humble heart. Yet, I have learned that doing so with my whole heart has been part of the sanctifying process.

I have found that the enemy can take a verse like today’s and attempt to pour shame and guilt upon us; trying to make us feel like we are a failure in God’s eyes because we struggle with issues listed above (and all the other ‘less than a whole heart’ issues that could be added to that list). And I will confess that for years I would let the enemy win. The truth is that we are all learning how to be more like Christ one day at a time. If I see myself as one who ‘does what is right in the eyes of the Lord, yet not with a whole heart’, then this is God showing me one more thing to confess, repent of and move forward, stronger today than I was yesterday.

God knows our heart. We cannot hide it from Him. It is not a surprise to Him when we bring confessions of pride, anger, greed or bitterness to Him when we realize that our obedience is done with less than a whole heart. In fact, in ourselves we are blind to our own sin. God is the one that reveals to us the true nature of our heart!

So ask Him today to show you what part of your heart is not wholly committed to Him. Let Him show you what you are trying to hide from yourself and then experience the healing touch of the Spirit as you confess and repent. Walking in obedience will be sweeter than ever before!

Prayer:
My patient God, You know the thoughts of my heart better than I do. And yet you continue to love my completely, with Your whole heart. Your unfailing love shown on the cross covers me with mercy and forgiveness. Show me what I need to see Lord. Show me what part of my heart is not completely surrendered to You so that I may repent of it and do what is right in Your eyes with a whole heart. Amen

Feeding my Hungry Soul one meal at a time,

Tami