“Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 139:23–24 NKJV
“God does not simply want permission to correct a few wrong pictures. He wants us to trust Him enough to give Him the whole canvas.” — Dr. Daniel LeBlanc
Give God the Canvas
We have spent this week learning how to change the picture. We have talked about taking thoughts captive, resisting the whisper, interrupting wrong pictures, replacing lies with truth, and allowing the Holy Spirit to govern our inner world. Now we come to a deeper question: Are we willing to give God the whole canvas?
David prayed, “Search me, O God, and know my heart.” He was giving God permission to look inside and reveal anything that did not belong there. That takes humility because sometimes it is much easier to see what needs to change in everyone else than to see what needs to change in us.
I have had times when I could explain exactly what someone else did wrong and why I had every right to feel the way I felt. Then the Holy Spirit began dealing with me, and suddenly I realized He was not talking to me about them. He was talking to me about me.
Continually blaming everyone else while refusing to allow the Holy Spirit to examine our own hearts is a sure sign of religious pride. Religious pride can be especially dangerous because it can hide behind our knowledge of Scripture, our years in church, our position, or even our confidence that we are right.
God hates pride. Proverbs 6:16–17 tells us that a proud look is among the things He hates. I am not saying God hates the person. He hates the pride within us because pride distorts the image of God that He desires to express through our lives. He never created us to live that way, and because He loves us, He wants that pride removed.
James 4:6 says, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” I never want to become so convinced that everyone else is the problem that I can no longer hear the Holy Spirit correcting me. I want to remain humble enough to pray, “Search me, O God.”
Giving God the canvas means we stop telling Him what He is allowed to touch. Maybe there is an offense we have justified, a fear we have accepted as part of our personality, or an attitude we have defended for years. When the Holy Spirit puts His finger on something, He is not trying to shame us. He loves us enough to show us what is keeping us from freedom.
Jesus said, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:32 NKJV. Sometimes the truth that makes us free is something God shows us about Himself, and sometimes it is something the Holy Spirit lovingly reveals about us.
He may show us that what we have called confidence is actually pride. What we have called discernment may really be suspicion, and what we have called caution may actually be fear. When He shows us something, we do not have to defend ourselves. We can simply say, “Holy Spirit, thank You for loving me enough to show me. Now help me change.”
That is what it means to give God the canvas. I want Him to change the way I see myself, other people, my past, my circumstances, and my future. I do not want fear painting one part of the picture, pride painting another, and my past painting another while I ask God to paint the rest.
I want the whole picture surrendered to Him. I want to see myself the way God sees me, see others through the love of Jesus, see my past through redemption, and see my future through the promises of God.
As we finish this week, take a moment and become quiet before the Holy Spirit. Ask Him, “Is there anything within me that does not look like Jesus?” Then be willing to listen when He answers.
Give God the whole canvas and trust His love enough to let Him remove what needs to go and change what has become distorted. The picture is not finished yet, and God is still working within you. What He is forming in you should look more and more like Jesus.
Prayer
Father, I give You the whole canvas of my heart. Search me and show me anything within me that does not reflect Jesus. If there is pride, fear, offense, bitterness, or anything else I have defended or refused to see, reveal it and help me remove it.
Holy Spirit, I desire to hear Your voice more clearly. Make me more sensitive to Your correction and direction, and give me the humility to receive what You show me. I trust Your love and give You permission to change the picture within me until my life looks more and more like Jesus. Amen.
Today’s God Imagination
Today I will ask, “Holy Spirit, what in me needs to change?” I will listen without blaming others or defending myself, receive His correction, and act on what He shows me.
