I decided to “duckduckgo” myself. I went straight to the “Images” tab and was curious what the search engine grabbed. I was pleased to see most of what turned up were pictures I had taken of backyard flowers, things I created and places I’ve been to.
It’s interesting how the web collects information about each user and can make a determination on what we are about based on everything we share. We tend to form our opinions about people. Sometimes, we are on the dot based on evidence through our interactions, but there are also times where we can easily misjudge people whose identities become one with the screen.
The “All” tab however, was an entirely different story. Some search results were unrelated to my domain and I was surprised to find something there I had not known before. Was the search result as pleasant as the images? It showed an incident in WP that was blown out of proportion, an exchange I had entirely forgotten about spontaneous abortion, an exchange with an Atheist and lastly, an exchange with a Catholic who asserts that a believer can be led astray simply by sticking to Scripture alone. I’m just mentioning the memorable ones. To be honest, I wish I could have conducted myself better in some of my dealings. This self-search engine exercise was quite an eye opener. If you haven’t done it before, it’s worth a try.
Now to the internal self-search. We really can’t search ourselves (Jeremiah 17:9). It is the Holy Spirit who searches us, since left to ourselves, our propensity to make justifications always gets in the way. What is needed on our part is cooperation.
1 You have searched me, Lord,
and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
you, Lord, know it completely.
5 You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
Psalm 139:1-12
“The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.”
1 Corinthians 2:10b-11