Ouch! When I heard the Lord ask me this question recently I said exactly that. I had just left a women’s group where I had shared some things that are currently going on in my life, and while I was still there I was hearing this notion of scrutiny. When I got home I headed straight to my online dictionary and this is what I read. Scrutiny is a searching examination or investigation, a minute inquiry, close and continuous watching. I knew that the definition was going to read close to what I thought, but when I saw the words in ink I felt the impact hit with a bit of a sting.
All afternoon I gave thought to what the question is about and how to best answer it for myself, and I have an idea that you may be in the same place as you think about the obvious implications. My initial thoughts were that I can in no way hold up to the Lord examining my life in detail, and then I remember Jesus. Jesus did the agonizingly difficult task of doing for me what I was not capable of doing for myself. Now when the Father looks at me Jesus is who He sees first, so I can rest in that completed work. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
But, getting back to the scrutiny issue I believe that the Lord wants us to be very clear about who has the authority to look at our life and draw conclusions. We know that God is both Father and Judge, and that how we see Him has everything to do with how we react to Him. If we see Father first we will behave one-way and if we see Judge first, it will be something quite different. The freedom for us must be in the fact that the Father is so full of love, mercy, and grace for us that we can stand before Him knowing that His judgment is perfect. It is only with the Father that we can put perfect and judgment in the same sentence, for He alone is worthy to judge. So, when the world judges you, you can rest in the assurance that you have an Eternal Father that is perfect in all ways.
There remains one final point on this subject today and that word is obedience. We may find ourselves one day in a situation where we are being judged for being obedient to what the Lord has called us to. For me when I am judged for my actions or perceived motivations from a worldly perspective, I have to hold fast to Who has called me. If my actions are led by the Holy Spirit then I must be true to His leading and not allow myself to fold when others do not see the truth behind what I say or do, because at the end of the day I live for God not the world.