Hidden Things
by Brandy Webb
We had a slight scare this Sabbath. My daughter, Jazmyn, woke at her friend’s house with severe stomach pains that had her doubled over. I rushed over there to pick her up and immediately took her to the ER. I have to admit, my mind was going to all the worst case scenarios during our drive.
Surprisingly, we were seen very quickly, and after running all kinds of tests, they determined that it was just severe abdominal cramping. They did do an ultrasound to verify nothing was wrong on the inside because you can’t tell what’s wrong with someone with stomach pain by just looking at them and giving them a physical examination. You have to look at the internal organs and verify that it isn’t appendicitis, gallstones, kidney stones, or anything else internal. Thankfully, the ultrasound came back clear. I don’t know what caused the severe pain, but I am grateful that it wasn’t anything major. Today, she is still not a hundred percent, but the pain has subsided greatly.
During the wait to find out if anything was wrong, I asked myself what I could learn from this other than to trust God that it would all work out, instead of worrying about it. I know that worrying does not help situations, but I hate that my mind does go there a lot. It was later that day, though, that a bigger lesson hit me.
When we got home I was reading a devotional called “Too Blessed to Be Stressed,” and that day’s devotion was about asking God to “x-ray” our hearts so that we could remove the sinful natures that we have inside. And I was like, that is it. We didn’t know if anything was hidden inside Jazmyn that could be causing her pain until the ultrasound was done. Well, just like hidden things can make us sick, hidden sins can make us spiritually sick.
I am realizing I need God to examine my heart and help me remove the weeds that grow there. I am far from being a perfect Christian. If you think that because I write Christian blogs I am a strong Christian, you are wrong. I am weak, but thankfully when I am weak, Christ can make me strong (2 Corinthians 12:10). I just have to trust Him and let Him strengthen me. The key is to trust Him in all circumstances and to allow Him to reveal the hidden things in our hearts so that we can become stronger Christians.
One of my “hidden things” that needs removal is negative thought and talk. I have noticed that some of my thoughts and words are not joyful and faithful. They are actually worries, fears, and doubts, and if “out of the abundance of the heart [the] mouth speaks,” I’d better clean my heart (Luke 6:45). I don’t want a negative heart. I want a heart that is full of joy, faith, love, patience, kindness, goodness, peace, gentleness, and self-control.
Therefore, I am seeking God to “ultrasound” my heart, and reveal the hidden things that need to be plucked out. I know we are all sinners “and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), but we can’t use that as an excuse to not try to overcome sin, for “those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh” (Galatians 5:24). It isn’t an easy process, but it isn’t impossible, because nothing is impossible with God (Matthew 19:26).