The Microscope

 "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." Psalm 139:23-24

The Ganges River is considered to be a sacred and holy river by the Hindu faith. Leonard Ravenhill tells the story of a Indian chemist that put a drop of its water under a microscope and saw that it was alive with bacteria. The shocked chemist contacted a Sadhu, which is a Hindu holy man and had him look through the microscope, where he too saw the "defiling" germs. Ravenhill relates that when the chemist turned his back, the Sadhu threw the microscope to the floor, shattering it. "The view had been too revealing." Ravenhill writes, "This is why sinners shun the Bible - it is too revealing. This is why believers back away from some Bible truths - they are too demanding."

How likely are you and I to sincerely invite the Father to search our hearts in the manner outlined in Psalm 139? In too many cases, the "view" is too revealing for us. Like the Sadhu, we would rather carry on with the illusion that we, like the Ganges River, are not really what such searching reveals. There could not be that much corruption. There couldn't be that much rottenness in our soul. There couldn't be......could there?

The verses from Psalm 139 have been preached on and heard, perhaps even prayed by many of us. Somehow, in too many instances, we've never truly heard or carried out the prayer. But I believe God is bringing first His people to the place of having it done in our hearts. The rottenness and corruption can no longer be denied, though we've done a remarkable job of trying to. In our culture alone we are seeing a level of anger, hatred, and violence, that is destroying us from within. The church is not immune from it, and sadly, in many cases has been a part of it. We need His cleansing, but His cleansing cannot come until we finally admit what is present. We've "shattered" enough "microscopes" in denial.

What has been lurking within our hearts, as well as the heart of the church in America, must be brought out into the light. His Light.

The political, social, and economic divide in our society is tearing us apart. That divide has found its way into the church. So deep do some of our feelings and views go that we, who are brothers and sister in Christ, fear to speak or say anything that might arouse anger in a fellow believer. Once it was said that two believers could agree to disagree, agreeably. That is a rare thing in these days. Strife within the Body is often just a word away, and the truth of all this is, if it is only a word away, then it already exists in our midst.

I remember as a young believer listening to a missionary tell of a fellow missionary who would explode into anger with little or no provocation. He said that the ones he was to minister to called him, "Rev, Gunpowder," for this tendency to easily implode I believe our fellowships are now crowded with brother and sister Gunpowders, ready to explode not only over the things listed above, but upon anything that can touch a nerve, or trigger a dislike. Anger and hatred are simmering just beneath the surface of too many lives, and so, too many fellowships. It has been tolerated long enough. We can no longer smash the microscope. We must admit to the inner defilement, yield it up to the One who sees it all anyway, and be cleansed. Be made whole. Be made pure.

Where are you and I avoiding the microscope of His searching spirit. What spiritual bacteria is clinging to our heart and soul? So many who revere the Ganges as holy, are made sick and even die from the bacteria it contains. What "death" is at work in us because we refuse to admit to its presence?

No doubt the Ganges was once a river flowing with pure, clean water, but centuries of abuse and defilement by both humans and animals have turned into a breeding ground of disease and even death. Where has a similar work taken place in us? Where does spiritual disease thrive in us? May the river of His Life flow through us, washing it all away. May we come to Him and simply say, "Lord, let Your river flow to me, in me, and through me. Let Your river flow.

Blessings,

Pastor O