Have you ever experienced an earthquake? In an instant, the ground beneath you, that you’ve come to depend on to be stable and predictable, betrays your trust. You are left feeling confused and insecure. This breach in continuity often comes as a result of fault lines.

Basically, a fault line in the simplest terms is a crack in the earth’s tectonic plates and it is along these lines where earthquakes most likely take place.

We too have fault lines. Like the ground beneath our feet, the soil of our soul has the propensity for fault lines as well. We all have them. Those broken places deep within that cause tension and friction until one day we crack!

Honestly, life is hard. Our minds, our hearts, and our emotions can only take so many hits before we start to develop these fractures. And over time, they create more and more stress until they can’t take the rub anymore, and BAM!, a crack is exposed.

For example, have you ever experienced someone that reacted to something in an unexpected or amplified way, seemingly out of character to what you’ve come to know and expect from them?

Brace yourself now, my next question might hurt a bit as we turn the tables and ask the same question about ourselves. Is it possible that we have been that person we didn’t recognize, reacting in such a way that even surprised us?

My guess is we all have. We’ve experienced it from those we love as well as been that crazy person for a moment and quickly regretted our actions, reactions, or inactions. It’s the hard truth but one that we are wise to confront.

Our scripture for this week is found inside an amazing story of forgiveness and the power of love (Luke 7:36-50). But for us, we are going to peek inside one small pocket of this story where Jesus is challenging Simon, the Pharisee, by asking a simple and yet deeply complex question, as He is prone to do throughout the gospels. The question is, “Do you see this woman?”

At first glance, it is a simple and surface ask, “Do you see this woman?” Sure, Simon the Pharisee sees her alright. He sees a sinner of the worst kind. But because Jesus is the one asking this question, we must go deeper.

I think Jesus is saying, “Do you see her the way I see her?” Meaning, before you pass judgment, take ALL of her in. The deepest hurt she’s felt. The cuts and bruises left in the wake of insults. The shame. The blame. The hardship of her life.

Lest we deny the good things that provide richness and depth to the soil of her soul, we also need to account for the joys that thrill her. The hopes that swell in her heart. The complicated and wondrous path she’s traveled to get her to the place she now stands. “Do you see her? ALL…OF…HER?”

I believe this is what Jesus is really asking of us.

Take a moment to think about your own relationships. Good ones and challenging ones. Ask yourself…Do you see her? Do you see him? Really see them?

Jesus implores us to look deeper still. This is a challenge for us, isn’t it?

To understand this call to look deeper still, we are using this metaphor of a fault line. Psalm 19:12 tells us it is God who reveals these hidden faults—“But who can discern their own errors? Forgive my hidden faults.”

Understanding this principle and where the responsibility lies helps us to forgive ourselves and other people their faults. God must be involved. Otherwise, it is an impossible task.

All of us have fault lines. Period. And that is why, when we allow ourselves and others these faults, it frees us from a lifetime of unnecessary pain. Because when we identify our universal inadequacies in the form of fault lines, it often provides us a much-needed glimpse of understanding and empathy.

It doesn’t mean we have to let other’s walk all over us, use or abuse us. No!, We need boundaries and the ability to shake the dust off our feet and move on in certain circumstances (Matthew 10:14). But then there are those times when we need to let the words of Jesus confront our natural bent toward pride and challenge us to look deeper still.

Reflect and Respond:

Pray about one relationship or one situation that you feel God calling you to look deeper still. Allow Him to expose the fault lines in yourself or others that need a deeper allowance of acceptance, empathy, or revelation.

Hugs for a great week and remember, you are not alone. Be blessed as you look deeper still.