After college, I had a brief job at a Sherwin-Williams paint store before going to seminary. One of my least favorite tasks was taking inventory. Back then, we had to count everything by hand and write it down on paper.
Even though my job was boring and tedious, it was important to the store manager. He needed to know how much of certain products he had and whether he needed to restock. He also needed to know what was selling and what wasn’t.
Similarly, a personal spiritual inventory might be tedious and painful, but it is very valuable for us. Through it, we find out our true relationship with the Lord.
Isaiah didn’t ask people to list their relationship with God. Instead, he gave them God’s view of their lives.
- For your hands are those of murderers and your fingers are filthy with sin. You lie and grumble and oppose the good.
- No one cares about being fair and true. Your lawsuits are based on lies; you spend your time plotting evil deeds and doing them.
- You spend your time and energy in spinning evil plans that end up in deadly actions.
- You cheat and shortchange everyone. Everything you do is filled with sin; violence is your trademark.
- Your feet run to do evil and rush to murder; your thoughts are only of sinning, and wherever you go you leave behind a trail of misery and death.
- You don’t know what true peace is, nor what it means to be just and good; you continually do wrong, and those who follow you won’t experience any peace either. (Isaiah 59:3-8 The Living Bible)
Having too many or too few products on the shelves can be a problem for a store owner. Not having a good relationship with God is infinitely more serious. In that case, we lose our connection to God’s life-giving power.
See, the Lord’s arm is not too short to save,
nor his ear too dull to hear.Rather, your iniquities have been barriers
between you and your God,
and your sins have hidden his face from you
so that he does not hear. (Isaiah 59:1-2)
A Spiritual Inventory Story
While working at the Sherwin-Williams store, I was also a pastor at a small Baptist church. I came across a book by the famous revivalist Charles Finney. In it, he had a whole chapter about taking a spiritual inventory.
I remember sitting down with a big yellow legal pad and going through each item on the list. After writing two or three detailed pages of sins I could remember, I knelt by my bed and prayed, asking for forgiveness for each sin that had been a major part of my life.
Later that day, I visited a man from my church and a woman from a neighboring community where I was speaking as a guest at their church. It would take too long to go over everything that happened, but I must say it was amazing.
What I learned was life-changing. Taking stock of my life and then dedicating myself to God opened the door for Him to connect with me and involve me in His work.
Try It Out
In Finney’s book, he shares the story of a traveling preacher in England. One day, the preacher stopped by an inn and met a waitress there. During their conversation, he suggested she pray, “Lord, show me my life.”
About a month later, the preacher returned. The inn owner told him, “I don’t know what you said to my waitress, but you need to fix it because she’s been miserable since you left.”
The preacher then advised the waitress to pray, “Lord, show me your life.”
He didn’t see her again until one day in London. A woman approached him on the street and said, “You don’t remember me, but I was the waitress you told to say those prayers. It transformed my life completely.”
In Isaiah’s time, people probably didn’t realize the depth of their sins, much like a waitress at an inn might not know hers.
If we took the time to be more like the woman rather than needing a prophet to point out our sins, we would ask the Lord, “Lord, show me my life.”
Then we could take a spiritual inventory, find a place to pray, and talk to the Lord about what has happened.
God is faithful, and we can trust that this will lead to a dramatic change in our relationship with God, ourselves, and others.
YouTube Discussion
Rudy Ross, Bruce Kirby, and I discussed this passage on YouTube today.
Real Voices 