Psalm 63:3 NLT
'Your unfailing love is better than life itself; how I praise you!'
Knowing myself has helped immensely in developing my appreciation of God. Knowing my strengths and weaknesses means I can develop skills to avoid the worst excesses of my character, which otherwise might prove self-destructive.
How we approach God and the world will shape our experience of God. You and I are each created in a unique way, although we share some common characteristics with others. We can be confident that God knows us very well (Psalm 139). What we need to appreciate is that in finding ourselves and making friends with the person we are, we can then explore finding God, relaxed and confident in our own skin. When I don’t know myself, the danger is that God becomes something of a life raft I expect to carry me away from the sinking wreck of my own personhood. When that fails to happen, I will most naturally blame and reject God.
We are not offered an escape from the realities of our own personality, nor from the difficulties this creates for us in navigating life’s realities, simply by clinging to God. We are invited to have the courage honestly to appraise, appreciate and accept ourselves as we are and then collaborate with God to enhance our strengths and manage our inner challenges. As with all learning, this takes time, guarantees mistakes and setbacks, while risking failure.
This has raised many questions for me over the years, yet today I know the landscape of my personality and acknowledge the dangers as well as the opportunities it affords me. Finding out who you are, how you tick within yourself, is a valuable first step when seeking to find God and subsequently God’s path.
QUESTION: How well do you know yourself?
PRAYER: “Search me, O God…Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life” (Psalm 139:23a-24).

Released on 18 Mar 2020