I crawled out of bed and pulled on my clothes. Half-asleep. Another school morning starting way to early.
About to walk out the door, my daughter yelled: “Hey, mom, your sweatpants are inside out.” We laughed. I would have looked such an idiot in public showing seams and M label.
Showing others the insides of our clothes is nothing compared with them seeing what goes on inside of us. We do not want to display our thoughts or feelings for all to see. Some of them are ugly, others of them are mean and most of all they might be shocked.
Yet, God is not fazed by what is going on inside of us.
With God I can fully display the inside—the labels, seams, hem—all the unattractive things that I don’t want other people to see. I talked to God about my fears, concerns, and even the lack of trust I had in him. I could bare it all. And this is OK, because God looks inside at our hearts and acts from the inside out.
God is compassionate. He acts first to rescue people. He breathes new life into dry bones. He replaces hearts of stone with hearts of flesh. Later in scripture, God initiates deliverance through Jesus Christ. We may have no ability of our own, but God still rescues us—and this is from the inside out.
Tweet ThisSo, my inside-out thoughts seemed very appropriate.
I continued with another lap of the track and allowed God to search my heart by breathing in his Spirit. I concentrated on my breathing, so my mind would not wander.
I meditated on God bringing his life to my stony heart and dry bones.
It was blustery and windy, and it began to rain. The only other track user left the track at this point. (She soon returned with an umbrella.)
The verse on my daily scripture calendar came to mind:
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:3, NIV).
My own spirit may be needy, but with God’s Spirit, I become his child with an inheritance.
With God we can be inside out, because it is the inside that matters most to him. Human nature is to look at the outward appearance.
Toward the end of my walk, my outward appearance was not so perfect, even though my pants had the right side out! The weather was warm, and physical activity was making me warm, too. I removed my jacket and sweatshirt to reveal a purple T-shirt that clashed with the red laces of my sneakers and my light brown bandana. My attire was not color coordinated—oh well! I wasn’t at the track to showcase my fashion sense.  I was exposing my heart to my God who is perfecting me from the inside-out.
I’d love to hear from you. How are you opening your inside to let God work?
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