“But the Lord God called to the man, ‘Where are you?’” Genesis 3:9
One morning, my boys were finishing up an activity booklet from a visit to Mt. Rushmore. One of the activities was drawing something meaningful from the experience. One of my son’s drew “Mt. Guineamore” a remake of the monument with guinea pig faces. The other drew his best to match the original creation. Both prepared and presented their work differently. One showed it proudly, while the other closed his book and “hid” the work. He didn’t think it was good enough and refused to let us see it because of his insecurities related to how it turned out.
I know God listens to us and answers. He hears our calls of distress. As I shared last week, when in humility, our hearts are able to lower ourselves, lift Him high and truly “hear” and “see” what we need to navigate through this life. He proves it to me more and more, and the morning of the drawings was no exception. For hours before, I knelt at a bench that I peer out to the skies and talk to God from. That morning I was feeling a bit deflated regarding a situation I was working through and I had no words. I laid my head down on the bench and glanced to the right of me where I saw the word “understanding.” It was on the back of a math textbook, so who cares right? But, it stuck with me. So, I said, “Help me understand.”
As breakfast rolled around, my boys and I read the story shared in Mark 5: 21-24. As Jesus approached a large crowd, a synagogue ruler named Jairus came to him. When he saw Jesus, he “fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him.” His daughter was dying and he requested Jesus put his hands on her so she may be healed. Jesus accepted his request and went with him. I was reminded of humility. I am sure it took much courage for Jairus, a synagogue leader, to step out from the crowd and fall to the feet of a radical Jesus. Not only to fall to his feet, but to plead with him on behalf of his daughter. It made me ponder and ask my children, do you know you need Jesus’ healing enough to step in front of an entire crowd, hit your knees, and beg with your entire heart for healing?
What about you?
Are you in a place of humility enough to kneel before Jesus and ask him for the healing you or your family needs no matter who is watching?
OR
Would you hide in the crowd and watch someone else do it?
Recall my kneeling that morning with my head on the bench? The “understanding” I needed was around an act such as this. I had knelt before the Lord, I had cried out, I had stepped from the crowd and asked for help and it seemed it all fell flat, but God….
He heard me and as we read a Bible passage about a courageous Jarius stepping out in truth followed by a scared child in my home, hiding in shame, God gave me understanding! In the situation I was facing, I was standing bold like Jarius, yet I was up against someone hiding like my son. Which further took me back to the beginning….
Adam and Eve. When they sinned, they stepped away from God and hid. They did not stand to face their creator and admit what He already knew, they hid in shame as He looked and called for them. Where once they felt no shame Genesis 2:25, now they did. They received consequences……but God…..He also showed compassion, “The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.”
Hiding, concealing, delaying truth, why do we do it? Who do we think we are fooling? We just look like fools doing it. What are you hiding from? An honest conversation with someone, admitting a wrong you have committed, sharing a beautiful work you have created but feel insecure about, addressing an issue in your house you don’t want to face, or bigger, kneeling before God to own a choice(s) you’ve made that has hurt others?
When we hide, we delay allowing God to step in and “clothe” us, cover our sin and wrap us up so that He can start making good from it.
As “understanding” filled me and encouraged me that I needed to keep on stepping up and speaking truth, I confronted my son and said, “Go get that picture, we are looking at it!” To which, he did, and his brother and I stood in admiration of the amazing drawing he had completed. Sometimes we need a boost from someone we love to be bold and brave and share our truth knowing we will be accepted no matter what.
The picture I share this week was me “coming out of hiding.” It isn’t a great picture but to honor this message, I am being vulnerable and sharing it. In January, God really convicted me of “hiding.” He had inspired me to write a book and the courage it took me to write it was tremendous. Then, it sat on a shelf because I wasn’t brave enough to step from the crowd and share it. I didn’t even put a picture of myself on the FB page, I used the cover of the book. Finally, God awakened me to realize I was hiding with the message He had given me and it was time to step into the light and trust. As I realized this truth, I started to cry. I immediately asked my son to come with me outside and said, “we are taking my picture!” It was below freezing that day and the picture shows me not really smiling much, but it was a HUGE step for me. It got me brave enough to just call a photographer and take some professional photos where I am really smiling and being me! Let me tell you, living in the light feels so much better than hiding!
As you begin this new week, in humility, ask God what you are hiding from? If you know what you are hiding from, step from the darkness today and into the light where all things can be made new and God can clothe you in his grace and mercy and make beauty from ashes. Isaiah 61:3 And…if you love someone who is hiding, offer them the grace to be set free of it so they may be bold and courageous to face that difficult moment.
Father, Today I Surrender:
My Hiding
Show me the next step I should take.
Stepping out of the crowd with you, Julie
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דירות דיסקרטיות בהרצליה Ka Deterding
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