What's Under the Surface?

IN JULY our family spent a week vacationing in northern Wisconsin. The landscape in that part of the country really isn't very different from what we're used to here. There's a lot of farmland and some nice high hills, but it's what lies under the surface that I found most fascinating.

The first night we were there I just happened to check my GPS and noticed that there was a cache located about two miles from the cabin we were staying in. This particular cache was part of The Lil' Otter's "52-Pickup" series that shows off the beautiful waterfalls in Wisconsin. Well, dinner was done and we didn't have anything better to do, and it was only two miles away. How could we not go take a look?!?!

As we approached the cache you could hear the rush of the water over the rocks ahead. We don't get to hear that much in Central Illinois, so it's always exciting to me to experience something like that. What amazed me, though—and what I wasn't prepared for—was the sight of the water. It was a brownish-red color. It looked as though someone had dumped millions of gallons of iced tea into the little stream we were watching.

The friend we were staying with told me that the water up there takes on that rusty color due to the iron vein that runs through that part of the country. The iron from the rocks and soil bleeds through and colors the landscape, giving it an appearance that we simply don't have in our home area due to the differences in what lies below our sight.

We're all kind of like that. On the surface, we all might look alike. We may come from similar homes, we have similar jobs and make about the same amount of money. But scratch the surface—dig down deep—and you find veins that change the landscape of our lives.

There might be childhood experiences that color our outlook on life. Maybe we were shown incredible kindness by a loved one and that has affected the way we view others. Or there might be hurts from our adult lives that we've buried, but which bleed through to the surface when pressure hits us just right. There might be joys or sorrows, but the reality is those things are there, and their influence can be seen and felt.

David's prayer was, "Search me, O God, and know my heart (Psalm 139:23-24)." He wasn't content with God just seeing the surface of his life, he wanted him to know what ran deep within him. David wanted God to know what it was that colored his outlook and changed the landscape of his life. David's prayer continues, "See if there is any offensive way in me." He wanted to know that nothing was going to cause him to be separated from God's work in his life.

I can't see what's under the surface of your life, and there might even be things that you haven't noticed, but nothing hides from God's sight. He knows our hearts and knows what has touched us and has left deep scars. What's more, he knows how to transform those scars into beauty marks that reveal his glory at work in your life.

David's prayer concludes, "and lead me in the way everlasting." It's a cry for complete transformation—for God to eternally change the landscape of a life. Does God know you well enough to answer that prayer? Have you allowed him to move beyond the surface and to know you deeply?