This morning we looked at the importance of what lies beneath the surface. Like an iceberg, a significant amount of what we carry emotionally is below the surface of our lives, unseen by others. Most of our time is spent keeping it down in an effort to protect the surface life, rather than confronting the reality of what lies beneath. Unfortunately, this can result in an untransformed life where we continue the patterns of the past no matter how damaging they are. 

Our Father cares deeply about what’s beneath the surface and desires for us to let Him in to rearrange our inner lives. This isn’t to simply take the pain away, but to navigate our pain with Him. When we open the deeper places of our lives to Him, God meets us in that place and transforms us. You may be asking what you can do to begin this process of inviting God in and allowing Him to transform your inner life. Pastor Dale highlighted one way that’s become incredibly helpful in his life: becoming aware and paying attention to what’s under the surface within a relationship and/or in a community of relationships. One of the ways we can become aware is by answering these four assessment questions:

1. What am I angry about (from the past or the present)?
2. What am I sad about (small or big loss, disappointment, or choice)?
3. What am I anxious about (money, future, family, health, job)?
4. What am I glad about (a relationship, an opportunity, your church)?

The goal is to identify what’s going on below the surface so we know what we need to present to God. Once we’ve identified what’s beneath the surface, we have the opportunity to take that through the lens of what we’ve Pastor Dale has taught us earlier in this series: 

• Is this an untrue story I’m telling myself? Who do I need to clarify with?
• How can I grieve this?
• Is this something that’s been passed on to me?

Pastor Dale’s strong encouragement to us is to practice the above with someone you love and trust this week. Then, take it to God. Talk to Him about it and ask Him what He wants you to know and what He’s asking you to do. It may be to forgive someone, to surrender it to Him, to continue talking to Him about it. He wants to transform your inner life and is awaiting the invitation to be brought in.