One of the most dangerous things you can ask God

One of the most dangerous things you can do is to ask God to search your heart in the midst of conflict or trial or pain. It may delay the victory or the rescue or the relief you're after. 

David writes, "May integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you." (Psalm 25:21) Here the Psalmist is asking God to save him from others; he's praying and waiting, looking and hoping. 

 

We've all be there, in the middle of something we've been dragged into, something we've fallen into, something we've walked into. The primary objective is to GET OUT! 

 

But for the Psalmist, being saved and/or vindicated is NOT the most important thing. Having a right heart is the most important thing. It's as if he's saying, "God even if I'm never rescued or vindicated, even if I'm never getting out of here, let my heart be upright before you, let my heart be pure."

 

Consider Psalm 7:1-2: "O Lord my God, in you do I take refuge; save me from all my pursuers and deliver me, lest like a lion they tear my soul apart, rending it in pieces, with none to deliver." There's no question David WANTS to be rescued! 

 

But it's not David's ultimate, deepest, desire.

"O Lord my God, if I have done this, if there is wrong in my hands, if I have repaid my friend with evil or plundered my enemy without cause, let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it, and let him trample my life to the ground and lay my glory in the dust." (Psalm 7:3-5)

One of the most dangerous and courageous things to do is to ask God to search your heart in the midst of conflict or trial or pain. When victory is desirable, but not ultimate in your heart, you're walking in a power and strength not your own. Whatever happens, whenever it happens, will only magnify the joy you've ALREADY found.