Inside Out – by Lori Dixon

Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting! Psalm 139:23-24 (ESV)

I stood in the change room, searching the seams for the washing instructions tag. My fingers traced up and down each side, but the tag was not to be found. Exasperated, I flipped the dress inside out and it was visible immediately: dry clean only. So not in our budget, but examining the fabric type, I knew it could be gently hand washed.

A few days later, as I was singing the last worship song in church, I found myself whispering five random words that came to mind, ‘Lord, turn us inside out’.

Say what? Busy with catch ups and goodbyes following worship, I didn’t have a chance to process the strange thought until I was with my husband in the car. We discussed what it would mean to be turned inside out . . . when I suddenly remembered the dress in the change room.

When we turn things inside out, the unseen becomes seen. The truth of who we are, and what we’re made of comes into focus.
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Lord have mercy! The last thing I would want is to walk around inside out. How about you? But in my private moments of worship, yes, Lord, turn me inside out. Show me what I am. Show me what you want to clean. Show me how your Spirit can transform me. I need to be washed in your blood, made clean! Just please use the gentle cycle . . . and I’d prefer not to be wrung out if at all possible.

Lori Dixon ~ Writer/Speaker/Servant of Christ. Contact