Maybe you haven't noticed...but sometimes...we smell.
I know, I know, it's a surprise to some of us over in western world...we do a pretty good job disguising our stink. Some people try not to sweat...we use deodorant, we have air fresheners, some people even do such a fantastic job disguising their smell that you gag on their new proudly paraded smell (ever walked past a woman doused in a poignant perfume?)
Why do we do this? Why are we so scared of stinking? If we all stunk...we wouldn't really be so worried about it. Maybe we'd even parade our true smell proudly...check out the way a skunk struts its stuff.
Sunday I was walking through the mall and on my way to my car I noticed a cute country store window and slowed my walk to a leisure pace and saw they were selling a garbage can holder. But, this wasn't any garbage can holder. It was disguised to look like an awesome cabinet. It was beautiful. In fact, no one would know your garbage was in there...until you forgot your garbage was in there and they started asking "What's that smell?"
For some reason, my stomach got sick in that moment and I started wondering why it's so important for us to hide our messes. Why do we want to hide our garbage, why do we hide our smell, why do women hide behind make up? It hit me, that we have a tendency to...are you ready for this? Hide. We hide our mistakes, we hide our true selves...we have to work at being vulnerable. We hide.
But why? Suddenly...the history of man flashed through my mind back to Adam and Eve...who also hid. They hid in the garden because they were ashamed. They were aware that they were naked. They didn't like being exposed. It scared them. And yet...here we are, however long later...after God has given us clothes...still hiding like we're naked. Scared of being truly known, scared of others seeing our messes, and hiding anything that just might smell bad.
The scary part is...sometimes we convince ourselves we aren't hiding. That we're good to go. We've hidden our own stuff that needs dealt with so well that we've tricked ourselves. Don't forget, it's still there if you haven't given it away. Don't be like the fake religious leaders who sickened Jesus.
Too many of us are still trying to hide our garbage, (that Jesus has already offered to clean out) kicking that piece we missed earlier under the carpet, holding what we don't want someone else to see behind our back. It's time to stop. It's time to clean out what needs to be cleaned, and then to accept who we are and not be afraid of how we might smell. Dare to not hide. Dare to believe that when we are told we are free, that God loves you...that it is true.
So, without further ado...don't run from the person who smells....run to them and mess them up with some love. (even if you need to start with you)
I know, I know, it's a surprise to some of us over in western world...we do a pretty good job disguising our stink. Some people try not to sweat...we use deodorant, we have air fresheners, some people even do such a fantastic job disguising their smell that you gag on their new proudly paraded smell (ever walked past a woman doused in a poignant perfume?)
Why do we do this? Why are we so scared of stinking? If we all stunk...we wouldn't really be so worried about it. Maybe we'd even parade our true smell proudly...check out the way a skunk struts its stuff.
Sunday I was walking through the mall and on my way to my car I noticed a cute country store window and slowed my walk to a leisure pace and saw they were selling a garbage can holder. But, this wasn't any garbage can holder. It was disguised to look like an awesome cabinet. It was beautiful. In fact, no one would know your garbage was in there...until you forgot your garbage was in there and they started asking "What's that smell?"
For some reason, my stomach got sick in that moment and I started wondering why it's so important for us to hide our messes. Why do we want to hide our garbage, why do we hide our smell, why do women hide behind make up? It hit me, that we have a tendency to...are you ready for this? Hide. We hide our mistakes, we hide our true selves...we have to work at being vulnerable. We hide.
But why? Suddenly...the history of man flashed through my mind back to Adam and Eve...who also hid. They hid in the garden because they were ashamed. They were aware that they were naked. They didn't like being exposed. It scared them. And yet...here we are, however long later...after God has given us clothes...still hiding like we're naked. Scared of being truly known, scared of others seeing our messes, and hiding anything that just might smell bad.
The scary part is...sometimes we convince ourselves we aren't hiding. That we're good to go. We've hidden our own stuff that needs dealt with so well that we've tricked ourselves. Don't forget, it's still there if you haven't given it away. Don't be like the fake religious leaders who sickened Jesus.
"...you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean." Matt.24:27
Too many of us are still trying to hide our garbage, (that Jesus has already offered to clean out) kicking that piece we missed earlier under the carpet, holding what we don't want someone else to see behind our back. It's time to stop. It's time to clean out what needs to be cleaned, and then to accept who we are and not be afraid of how we might smell. Dare to not hide. Dare to believe that when we are told we are free, that God loves you...that it is true.
So, without further ado...don't run from the person who smells....run to them and mess them up with some love. (even if you need to start with you)
I really liked that...refreshing!!
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