A Heart That Sees Clearly

A few weeks ago, I took the most stunning photo of a sunset.  The colors were indescribable, although also in the photo were power lines and the neighborhood sign blocking the full view.  I quickly edited the photo and as I looked at this image after the distractions were removed and this one thought settled in my heart: The beauty was always there. Removing the distractions didn’t create the sunset, it simply revealed it.

Isn’t that what the Holy Spirit does in us? He doesn’t manufacture Christ’s beauty; He patiently removes the things that obscure it. Pride, fear, striving, shame, self-reliance… one by one, He clears the view until the glory of Jesus shines more freely through our lives.

Sometimes seeing clearly isn’t about adding more. It’s about removing what distracts us from what has been there all along.

Today we are going to focus on the conditions of our hearts because it is critical for living an abundant life, amen?

Let’s start with a few scriptures concerning one of the most critical subjects concerning the conditions of our hearts.  

Forgiveness. 

Psalm 51:10 says, “Create in me a clean heart, God and renew a steadfast spirit in me.

Steadfast spirit.  Steadfast means, unmovable, unshakable, not wavering, anchored.  

The fastest way to a clean heart is this brave prayer of David found in Psalm 139.  

I say brave, because what follows this prayer brings revelation and with revelation always come calls to action. It is critical to complete your do’s. Freedom and healing are always in the other side of the do.

Psalm 139 Verse 23-24 says, 

“Search me, God, and know my heart; Put me to the test and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there is any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.”

This prayer was the catalyst to my healing journey.  

Proverbs 4:23 says, 

“Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.”

We must maintain a posture of being solely responsible for our own thoughts, words, and actions.

We cannot change anyone else.

And no one else is responsible for our change either.

Our life.

Our choices.

That is both sobering and liberating.

Because the moment we stop taking responsibility for the condition of our own hearts, we hand the keys to our freedom to someone else.

We begin saying, “I am this way because of what they did.”

“I wouldn’t be angry if they hadn’t hurt me.”

“I wouldn’t be bitter if they hadn’t betrayed me.”

“I wouldn’t be afraid if they hadn’t disappointed me.”

And perhaps they did hurt you.

Maybe they did betray you.

Maybe they were wrong.

But their wrong does not have to become the permanent condition of your heart.

What happened to you may explain what is in your heart, but it does not have to determine what remains in your heart.

That is where the Holy Spirit comes in.

He reveals it so He can heal it.

He says, “Let Me show you what is there—not to condemn you, but to free you.”

This is why David prayed, “Search me, God.”

He wasn’t asking God to search everyone else.

He said, “Search me.”

Because transformation begins when we stop looking outward and allow God to look inward.

And sometimes the Holy Spirit will put His finger on something we would rather leave alone.

A wound.

An offense.

A fear.

A need for control.

Pride.

Self-reliance.

Striving.

Unforgiveness.

And when He reveals it, we have a choice.

We can defend it, explain it,  justify it….

Or, we can blame someone for it.

Or surrender it, at the feet of Jesus.

Notice where David ends.

He says, “Lead me in the everlasting way.”

God’s revelation is always moving us somewhere.

He reveals so He can lead.

And He leads us toward freedom.

Toward healing.

Toward wholeness.

Toward the abundant life Jesus came to give us.

Remember the sunset we talked about

earlier?

The beauty was already there.

It just needed the distractions removed.

And perhaps that is what God wants to do in some of our hearts today.

He doesn’t need to create something beautiful in you.

Christ is already beautiful in you.

He doesn’t need to manufacture His presence, because He is already there.  In your heart.

Sometimes He simply needs permission to remove what has been hiding Him.

So perhaps the prayer today is not,

“God, make me better.”

Perhaps it is,

“God, search me.”

Show me what is obstructing the view.

Show me what I have carried that You never asked me to carry.

Show me what I have allowed to take root in my heart.

And then, Holy Spirit—lead me in the everlasting way.”

We are all broken, and we are all healing—just at different stages of the process.

The only normal people you know are the ones you don’t know very well!

But since walking out my own healing, this is what I’m learning:

Our level of tolerance for others is often a reflection of the condition of our own hearts.

Our reactions to offenses can uncover and reveal the places where pain, disappointment, resentment, and bitterness are still taking root in the broken crevices of our hearts.

Sometimes what we call someone else’s “problem” is actually revealing something that still needs healing in us.

Because when we are wounded, we tend to interpret people through the lens of our wounds.

But when healing begins to take place, something changes.

We become able to see people as people. Separate from their words, their actions, their behaviors, and even their offenses against us.

We begin to see beyond what they did to us and recognize that there is a human being standing in front of us who is also carrying a story.

This is what Jesus did.  He listened to people’s stories.  He saw their needs and served them with nothing expected in return.  No judgement, just met and ministered with pure love.

Jesus instructed us in ‭Matthew‬ ‭5‬:‭43‬-‭47, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others?“

Suddenly His command to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute youbecomes the evidence of a heart that has been so deeply transformed by the Father’s love that another person’s brokenness no longer holds authority over its condition.

Forgiveness… every minute, every hour of every day.

I want to get so good at forgiveness that even when I am being offended, I forgive so quickly, it doesn’t even have a chance to exist as offense.