Monday 22nd June - The Sinkhole Syndrome

DAILY BYTE

In his book ‘Ordering Your Inner World,’ Gordon MacDonald tells the story of a Florida sinkhole. The residents of an apartment in Florida woke up one morning to a terrifying sight. The street in front of their building had collapsed. Cars had tumbled into the pits and the building itself would be the next to go.

Sinkholes are peculiar to Florida and are caused when underground streams drain away during drought, causing the ground at the surface to lose its underlying support.

It must be a particularly frightening occurrence to be walking along a perfectly normal looking street and then without warning the whole street collapses into a sinkhole!

In many ways our lives are susceptible to a similar ‘sinkhole’ type syndrome. All may appear wonderful on the surface. We may even spend a lot of effort on sustaining our life on the visible surface level to the extent that we convince not only others, but also ourselves that in fact all is well. However, the truth of the matter is that deep within our spirits may be gradually eroding away. Because we are then living in a state of denial, we discover too late that our inner world is in a state of disorderliness.

When that is true we’re vulnerable to the ‘sinkhole syndrome’ of the soul.

One of the most difficult things to do in life is to face the reality of who we are within: To face up to our sins and mistakes, our past hurts and regrets. All the things that if left un-dealt with can potentially cripple us spiritually and emotionally.

Insight is a word we often use but not really with enough appreciation for its full meaning. To have insight is to be able to grasp the inward or hidden nature of things. The reality is that many people choose to live without insight into their own souls. We refuse to face up to our own brokenness for a variety of reasons, but the truth of the matter is that if we do not do so we risk a ‘sinkhole syndrome’ – the implosion of our entire outer world because of an inner collapse.

‘The one spiritual disease is thinking one is quite well.’ G.K. Chesterton.

PRAY AS YOU GO

O’ God how difficult it is to look within ourselves. We pray that you would keep us from the temptation of living our lives only at the surface level. We pray that you would take us on a transformative journey of insight and depth. Amen.

FOCUS READING

Psalm 139:1-7

O LORD, you have searched me
and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O LORD.
You hem me in—behind and before;
you have laid your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?