Not Just Through, But Thoroughly: How God Sees and Restores You

 It all started with a potato… and how God works in ways we often miss.

Something simple struck me one day while I was in the kitchen preparing dinner. It started with something as ordinary as a potato. Now you know how potatoes come out of the ground. They grow deep down in the dirt, so when you bring them in they are not exactly clean. Soil sticks to the skin, sometimes in the little eyes and creases. So before you ever take a knife to it, what do you do? You wash it. And not just a quick splash under the faucet. You wash it thoroughly. You turn it in your hands, rubbing the surface, rinse it again, making sure the dirt is gone from every part of it.

That word thoroughly really means something when you think about it. The whole idea is that nothing is left clinging to the outside. Every part gets attention. You are not rushing past it. You are making sure it is actually clean enough for eating.

Now once the potato is washed thoroughly, then you pick up the knife and cut the potato. And when you cut a potato, the knife goes into and through it. The blade enters one side, travels through the body of the potato, and comes out the other side. In one motion it passes completely through and divides it into pieces.

So right there you have two words that sound a lot alike, but they are doing two completely different things. Washing thoroughly means you deal with everything on the outside so nothing remains hidden there. Cutting through means something penetrates the inside and separates what is there.

Now the reason that struck me is because the writers of Scripture make a similar distinction when they talk about how God deals with people. David once said something that, if you think about it honestly, is a little unsettling. He wrote, “O LORD, You have searched me and known me.” Psalm 139:1 The Hebrew word he used there is ḥāqar which means to search deeply, to examine carefully, to investigate something until nothing remains hidden.

David was not saying that God passed by his life and noticed him on the way through. He was saying that God looked closely. God examined him. God knew what was really there.

And what surprises people is that David did not shrink back from that idea. In fact, later in that same psalm he asks God to keep doing exactly that. He says, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.” Psalm 139:23 That is a bold prayer when you slow down and think about it. David is basically saying, “Look thoroughly at everything in me. Do not overlook anything.” Most people would rather God keep a comfortable distance. David invited the examination.

And once you understand that, another passage suddenly makes a lot more sense. The writer of Hebrews says, “For the word of God is living and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit.” Hebrews 4:12 In other words, once the heart is examined, the truth of God does something else. It cuts through. Just like that knife going through the potato. It penetrates. It divides. It reveals what is actually inside.

This is where the difference between those two ideas becomes important, because people often confuse them. Many people are comfortable with a God who simply passes through their life now and then. Maybe they hear a message, say a prayer, think about God for a moment, and then go on with everything exactly the same as before. Something passed through their day, but nothing really changed.

But when you look at the ministry of Yeshua, you start seeing this distinction in action. He moved through towns and villages, teaching and healing, casting out demons. Scripture says, “Jesus went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.” Matthew 4:23 He was moving across the land, touching towns, walking through villages, but the effect He had on people was never just a surface pass-through. He dealt with them thoroughly.

Think about the man who had been paralyzed for thirty-eight years at the pool in Jerusalem. When Yeshua spoke to him, the change was immediate and complete: “Immediately the man was made well, and he took up his mat and walked.” John 5:9 That is thorough. Nothing half-measured. Not just a little relief for a few hours. Complete restoration.

Or the demon-possessed man who lived among the tombs. When Yeshua confronted him, Scripture says, “the unclean spirit convulsed him, came out of him with a loud cry” Mark 5:8, the deliverance was total. The man was restored. That is thorough again. Complete freedom.

Even the woman with the issue of blood, suffering for twelve years, was not merely touched lightly. When she reached out and touched Yeshua’s garment, the Scripture says, “Immediately her flow of blood dried up; she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.” Mark 5:29 Full restoration. Nothing left undone.

And yet, Yeshua did more than heal bodies. His words cut through what people were hiding inside. He knew what the Pharisees were thinking without them speaking a word: “Jesus knew in His spirit that they reasoned that way within themselves.” Mark 2:8. His Word penetrated hearts, exposing what was hidden. Even the woman at the well, her past, her shame, her reality, was revealed. She left saying, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did.” John 4:29 That is the knife passing through. Revealing. Dividing. Showing what truly lies inside.

Jesus pointed out a similar problem when He spoke to people focused on appearances. He said, “You clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.” Matthew 23:25 They looked right on the outside but the inside had never been dealt with. Cleaning was not thorough.

The pattern becomes clear. God searches thoroughly, examining what is there in the heart, and then His truth cuts through, revealing and dividing what lies within. David understood that process and welcomed it, because he knew a heart that has been honestly examined by God is the only kind of heart that can truly be set right.

And strangely enough, that whole picture can start with something as simple as a potato at the kitchen sink. First it is washed thoroughly so nothing remains clinging to it. Then the knife passes through it, revealing and dividing what is inside. Two words that sound similar, but they describe two very different actions. And once you see the difference, you begin to notice that the Scriptures, especially Yeshua’s ministry, use those same ideas to describe how God works in us: thoroughly examining, completely restoring, and cutting through to reveal truth.