The electric utility is planning to replace all the underground cables in our neighborhood and the preparation work is underway. For the past two weeks, a crew has been working around here using a hydro vac system to expose all the existing gas, water, sewer, telephone, and cable lines that are in the path of the new installation.

Hydro vac is a method that employs high-pressure hot water to loosen the earth, and a giant (and noisy) vacuum to suck up the resulting mud – hence my nickname for it, the Giant Mudsucker. This method allows the crew to safely excavate down to the buried pipes and wires without the risk of damaging them. The new electric cable can be then installed using a directional boring machine, eliminating the need for open trenching.

Watching the workers made me think about how God examines the hearts of those He loves. He doesn’t assault us with a pick and shovel, but He gently removes the soil to expose the heart without doing any damage. Then the God who knows us better than we know ourselves can speak deeply into our lives and transform us into humans who love Him more, and serve Him more gladly. How tender is this God! How gracious, how patient is He!

O LORD, you have searched me and known me! Psalms 139:1 (ESV)

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! Psalms 139:23-24 (ESV)

… a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench…Isaiah 42:3 (ESV)