Search Me, O God

Once, in Heaven, there was singing, praising and worshiping, with harmony and unity flowing throughout Creation. When one individual took his focus away from God, indulging his jealousies and desires, disharmony—a concept no one ever knew existed—became a reality. This caused others to doubt, criticize and lose sight of the focal point, so much so that one-third of the created beings left Heaven, never to sing, praise or worship their Creator again. God must have grieved.

So, it is with man today. Our world contains a wonderful diversity of peoples, talents, cultures and languages. Yet, the desire to meet our own needs can become to us more important than others, unity or even God. Families are divided, races are divided and different cultures are not accepted, all because we have lost our focus: God. 

The good news is that it doesn’t have to be that way, for the God of Heaven made way for us to reconnect and abide totally in Christ. We can do nothing of ourselves for salvation, but abiding in Christ must not be that simple, since there is no unity among His believers, or at least very little. When we separate ourselves from the power of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we are left empty, and we lose the power to connect and unify in God.

We know the God we serve can finish the work on His own but desires His children to do it instead. But we run into a dilemma—we can do nothing of ourselves, even to go to Him with a broken and contrite heart. We need His Spirit desperately. I remember the “five foolish virgins” thinking they had been walking with full surrender and full of the Holy Spirit, only to find themselves empty. I don’t want that for you or for me. 

God calls us to unity. That can only be accomplished through the indwelling of the Spirit of God in each of us. It is only through His power that we can become partakers of the union of Christ. God has to move us to do His will; we cannot even do that by ourselves. We must pray! We must allow God to work His Spirit in and through us. Then will unity prevail on Earth. In

The Adventist Home, Ellen G. White says, “The cause of division and discord in families and in the church is separation from Christ. To come near to Christ is to come near to one another. The secret of true unity in the church and in the family is not diplomacy, not management, not a superhuman effort to overcome difficulties—though there will be much of this to do—but union with Christ.”

Embrace Psalms 139:23-24, “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Then as individuals, families and churches, we can experience unity in Christ.

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By Apple Park
Executive Secretary