He Knows Our Heart

The Lord God is so gracious and amazing! He knows my innermost thoughts - my deep desire to please Him intertwined with my often confused notion that somehow I can earn His love. I struggle with perfectionism. Not that I get things perfect - far from it - but an incredible pressure that I place on myself to get "it" right... no matter what "it" is.


One day, in particular, the Lord sweetly showed me a valuable lesson about this! We were enjoying a wonderful day together. Our time in the morning had been so sweet. His Presence lingered almost tangibly as we went through Our day. I was cleaning in the kitchen when I noticed that my two small cutting boards were put away in an unusual spot. Immediately I found myself saying, "oh, my precious baby!" I knew that my little daughter had decided to help her mommy and had put away the cutting boards in this spot because she was unable to reach up beside the microwave where I normally keep them. I was so blessed by the fact that she would want to help me put the dishes and such away.

Then He spoke. "Does it matter that she didn't put them in the RIGHT spot?" No! She had thought of me and tried her best! And I was blessed - even though she hadn't done it how I would have. I knew what He was saying to me. How much more is our Heavenly Father blessed by our attempts - even when the outcome is "wrong"...

His words were such a kindness to me. A friend and I had just talked, about our struggle with condemning ourselves when we didn't do things "right". As if this were not enough, only a little while later, while I was cleaning my children's rooms, I was thanking the Lord for the great enjoyment that I was getting from this day. Again He spoke. "Does it matter to you that you are going behind them and cleaning up after they have already tried to clean their rooms?" You see, they had already made their beds and tidied their desks but I was following behind them doing a more thorough cleaning. And NO, it didn't matter! I was singing and rejoicing in what they had done and it didn't matter a bit that I was doing the things that they hadn't seen.

How much more our Heavenly Father? He sees our hearts! He knows our good intentions! And He knows what we're capable of! He love us. He loves me! And He has assumed full responsibility for me - His daughter! And in His infinite mercy and grace, He rejoices over me with singing... even when He's going behind me cleaning up my messes!