There’s a difference between asking God to search you and introspection.
I am very used to introspection. It tends to end up being a long and winding road that leads to nowhere but the very self you’ve always been. The self you’re aware of, the self that keeps things going. It might seem very relieving to do introspection, but in reality it’s just an excuse to indulge in self-love and give it a coat of acceptability and depth.
The point of asking God to search you is not primarily for His benefit. It’s not as though He needs to do the search because He doesn’t know you. It’s actually because there are at times things we do that makes us wonder, where that’s coming from. Pressurised situations tend to bring out characteristics in us that we don’t readily admit.
Worse still we can be in a complacent position where we think we’re doing alright and everything is hunky dory. It is good in that situation to stop and take account of things to check if that complacency might be actually hindering progress.
So inviting God to search me is an invitation to know the truth. Know me inside and out as I really am. By that I am not just talking about the depths of my depravity. I am also being exposed to the work of the Spirit in my life transforming me to become more and more like the Jesus I follow. Devastated by how far I miss the mark, I am captivated by His grace and motivated by His love and inspired by the vision of His death-defeating life.
As long as I am captured by that vision I won’t get caught up in introspection. I won’t get morose at my failings or get an inflated ego by any successes. I will grow to find fulfilment just in knowing I am His and He is in me.
It’s tough work being confronted by the truth God has to share with you. He does not expect you to take it as it is on your own. He expects you to see it with Him, through Him and by Him so that you can move on with His perspective. That leads to great healing and room for confession, forgiveness, restoration and a refocus on the things that matter. Life spent giving all I am to be pleasing to Him who turned death to life and misery to joy through the Man and Message.
It is very healthy from time to time to give God permission to search you. You will be grateful He did.
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden
Life With CD 
Christopher
Isn’t that a difficult process?
To be assessed by god who knows you fully, far far better than you will ever know yourself. Even with his love & kindness this process must be hard to see how far of the mark, one is. But my question is, Is this process a guide to get on track?
tony
The process is certainly very hard. Especially as we prefer introspection. It takes much for me to humble myself and take correction on my.behaviour from someone outside. It’s even more challenging when it goes beyond behaviour and addresses deep seated drivers. The process, however, is all about keeping you on course in the hope that you know the course, its purpose and desired outcome.