If we want to draw near to the Lord, if we want Him to reveal Himself to us, if we want to see His glory, we have to know that what is in our hearts will be brought to light, and we have to be okay with it.  The dark corners and hidden places that go unnoticed in the dimly-lit rooms of apathy and complacency become ever brighter as we venture closer to the light of His holiness.

It can be a hard thing, knowing what’s in those unseen spaces and still finding the willingness to let the Lord expose and convict, challenge and rebuke.  It can be tempting to hold back, to be satisfied with the light and fellowship we can enjoy at a ‘safe’ distance, where we don’t have to acknowledge or deal with the “little” sins that are even so robbing joy, constricting life, limiting the Spirit’s ability to move in and through us.  It takes humbling – recognizing that no matter how much we want to hold onto something, no matter how convinced we are that freedom isn’t worth the mark on our perceived character or the forced submission of our flesh – the forgiveness and restoration that comes with repentance and refining is of far greater value.

And I think God is waiting for us to have that realization.  I think He is waiting for us to want Him enough, to truly put Him first, to make seeking His face and entering into His presence more important than our comfort, more important than our reputation, more important than our earthly desires.

He is wanting us to enter in to His presence – actively, purposely, knowingly – laying aside everything else, that we might gain Christ.

When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, 14 if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. —2 Chronicles 7:13-14