Have You Ever Been Alone with God?

Mark 4:33-34 (The Message)

33-34) With many stories like these, he presented his message to them, fitting the stories to their experience and maturity. He was never without a story when he spoke. When he was alone with his disciples, he went over everything, sorting out the tangles, untying the knots.

Jesus does not take us aside and explain, or let us know all there is to know all at once. He does this overtime, little by little, as He wants us to stretch ourselves and grow. We can use other's lives as examples, but ultimately God wants each of us to search within ourselves. It is easy to look at others and see everything that is wrong with them or their personalities, but how often we miss all that is wrong with ourselves. We need to "take the plank out of own eye", before we can see clearly. One of the first things we need to do is take the courage to begin the inward look. Jesus will begin to reveal to us what we need to work on or change within ourselves, and then His grace can begin to work.
One of the biggest things that gets in the way of our relationship with both God and others, is our pride. We must first come to realize that we do not understand ourselves, the only one who does is God Himself. God will reveal to us where we are prideful, and where we have set our desires for things that are not of God. He will allow disappointments and heartbreaks to happen in order to show us where our pride lies within ourselves, and where we need to change. God wants to get us to the point where we seek Him above all else, and when we are finally ready to meet with Him alone, He will begin to reveal things to us, and in turn we will finally be able to begin to see things clearly.

(My Utmost for His Highest-Oswald Chambers)

How true it is that it is so easy to see the faults of others, and how true it is that it is soooooo much harder to see clearly our own faults, especially when pride stand in the way. It is time to get our eyes off others, set our focus on Jesus, ask Him to begin to reveal things to us that needs changing, and truly look deep within to begin to clearly see what and who we truly are. Only when all of this takes place, can we begin to be that which God intended for us to be.

(Kandi Pierre)