Author Darlene Conard

I’ve been in Gideon’s position more times than I can count. (Judges 6-8) “If this is You, Lord, give me another sign!” Unsatisfied with the first answer I would ask again. What makes me this way? Searching intently, I reviewed my life. Where is the lost thread? Where is that one thread? When pulled, it loosens the intact garment. God, I need to find the source: pick it apart so I may come undone and remade.

“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. (Proverbs 22:6) Train them in the way they should go. If a child is taught to believe negative things about themselves, it’s a weed. It chokes good things out.

Weeds quickly conquer soil, taking space. Think about it. For good seeds to flourish, weeds must be uprooted completely. Grandma loved gardening. Helping alongside her I’d pull weeds out but lay them on the ground. “No, put them in the wheelbarrow to be hauled away.” It made plenty of sense. She explained that weeds could still take root although they were uprooted. Eventually, it would choke out the good seeds planted.  

I have always earnestly prayed for God to search my heart, soul, and mind. “I want everything that’s not of You, God, out!” He answers. Once He pulls that single thread, we become undone. We believe we know ourselves to a full extent until pressure is applied. I pray to be Christlike.

Going back to finding that single thread Matthew 9:16 says,” “No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse.” Please give me your full attention. Picture one of your best outfits that’s flawless. Now imagine pieces of it being torn out. Oil-stained rags are sewn in the torn-out areas, filling the missing pieces. Rags worsen the look.

“Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:6 KJV)

“Search the chambers of my heart, Lord. For I know my heart unknowingly holds things not pleasing to You. Refill me, Lord, for I run empty due to the cares of life. Do this, Lord, that I may be pure and holy inwardly.”

Gideon believed of himself he couldn’t possibly be the one God chose to confront the Midianites.  It does matter, “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he,” ….  (Proverbs 23:7 KJV). God pulled that loose thread to unravel the misfitted pattern.  Family members planted a misconception of a false identity.

“But the Lord said unto Samuel, “Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.  (1 Samuel 16:7 KJV)

As a messenger of God, I see you through the eyes of redemption. Let us always see ourselves through the eyes of God, not society. I have been shown great mercy. Consistently, I need the Lord’s mercy.

“Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one  another, even as also ye do.”1 Thessalonians 5:11

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