Hey y’all! Whew. Been an interesting few days on the journey. Sheez. I don’t know about you, but sometimes the holidays present more problems than they are worth. Really! Loved ones that are no longer with us. Estranged family and friends. Preparation for meals. Stress. Strain. Ugh! Makes you wonder sometimes if it’s really worth it.
Then you stop. I mean still. You look at life. You see hurts and pains that have been part of you for so long. In the next moment you see one (or more) of the beautiful things God has put in this earth for us to enjoy. It might be a creek running beside the road. It might be a tree that is turning colors. It might be a child at the store with the sweetest smile. It’s then I realize that “bad” makes it easier to see the “good.” If all I experienced was good stuff, I’d be pretty spoiled. Then God forbid, a hurt hit me, and I’d be a complete wreck. What I mean here is that I can look today and see that though I am a mess, I am not a complete mess. I have value. Where does this value come from? The Father.
His goodness is all around me. I have just been too wounded to see it sometimes. Well, most of the time. I am blessed. I have a roof over my head. I have crazy eating protocols, but I never go hungry. I have clothes to wear, regardless of the temperature outside. I even have a pretty good husband. I don’t want him to get the big head here. I have friends and family. I have a good life. So, what is my problem? Simple. My life box interprets the inputs through my wounds. It darkens that which should be light.
That darkness hinders me from reflecting the Father. It’s like the veil Moses wore when he came down the mountain from receiving the Ten Commandments. He had to cover his face because the reflection of God’s glory was too much for the people to look on. So, I asked myself the question, “Why am I not radiating the glory of God in my life?” The answer is the darkness I allow to cover all the light.
To know what the reflection of God might look like in my life, I have to turn back to the gospels and see what Jesus looked like. He was full of grace. He was loving. He was stern. He was giving. He was understanding. He was God in the flesh. He came to show us the Father. He came to be the redemption that reconnected us to the Father. He was the sacrifice that had to be paid for sin.
This is where the rub comes in. Religion teaches that you must “clean up,” before you come to God. How crazy is that. If you could do that on your own, what would you need God for? God is not looking for “good” people. God is looking for people that want to be healed and become sons of God. Ladies, the term “son” here has nothing to do with gender. It has to do with position. It’s a Hebrew term and is gender neutral in its usage. I am not arguing on this so if you have questions, find you a Hebrew scholar and get them to explain it to you.
Let’s bring this into human terms. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. A cute saying that means the offspring are similar to the parental units. If you study yourself long enough, with enough honesty, you will find that you have very similar characteristics to you parents. There are exceptions and I will address that in a later blog. For now, let me share that I see many of the things my parents did when I was growing up that I now do also. I am a reflection, so to speak, of them and their job of raising me.
The same is true for the one who becomes a son of God. A sibling to Jesus. A co-heir to the Kingdom of God. I am now a reflection of the Father who called me to be an adopted child with His Son. Did you know that in Jewish culture, you could disown a blood child, but you could not disown an adopted child? Guess who made that rule? Yep. God. And sense I am adopted through Christ’s work on the cross, I now enjoy all the benefits of being a son of God.
The one issue I have with these benefits is it puts you in the cross-hairs of the enemy and the world. Jesus said the world would hate me because of Him. I don’t want to be hated. I want to be liked. This is where the enemy has the greatest influence over me still. All the defenses I learned in my woundedness are the very places he brings the lies. Back to the darkness. My light is covered by the darkness of the lies I choose to live in when the pain gets too much.
I lose my reflection of the Father. Instead, I reflect the darkness that is in my soul from the pain. This is why I and so many other “Christians” fail miserably to reflect the Father. All you can see is my woundedness. There is a better way. It’s hard. It takes energy. It takes honesty. It takes vulnerability. It takes internal fortitude. It’s work. It can’t be wished for. It can’t be bought. It’s not something you can steal. It’s a gift from the Father when you allow Jesus to come in and sanctify the wounds. When you invite Him into the mess and give Him free reign to clean up. He will replace the lies with truth. He will comfort. He will encourage. He will be there, but only when you let Him. He never forces Himself on you. You have a choice. It is yours to make. You can reflect your woundedness or you can reflect the Father.
Okay, bye for now,
Delisa (with Carr)