I closed my eyes and turned my head away from the wall. The dust was terrible, and I was directly in the wake of the fan. My hand held its position, and I slowly extended my fingers out flat. Carefully, my face still looking another direction, I slid my hand intentionally across the drywall, feeling for any dents, lumps, or imperfections.

As I allowed my hand to be my eyes, I felt a rough spot. I turned around and looked at the small indentation, grabbed my finish sander, and smoothed out the area. Soon, after focused intentionality, the spot was just as smooth as the rest of the wall.

This sheetrock check continued for several hours and with each new find, my sanding got better and better. I found easier ways to get the edges tapered and better ways to make the mud smooth. The more I did it, the better the result.

The same is true of heart checks. Intentionally taking time to feel for the rough parts is something most of us tend to avoid. The work of sanding the hard edges and acknowledging the vulnerable places is tough and easy to ignore. From a distance, we seem fine, but if we slow down enough to closely examine ourselves, most of the time we’ll find we need a bunch more work with that finish sander. And just like the sheetrock, the more time we spend sanding the imperfections, the better we’ll get at it.

How’s your heart? Have you checked lately? Or have you taken a quick peak from a distance and deemed yourself okay? Spend some time with you—in the silence. Pray. Dig deep. And intentionally feel for the rough places. If we don’t sand them down or build them up, our wall will be filled with roughness that could affect someone else.

Feel for those rough spots, before they take over the whole wall.