This Sunday, as I sat in church, God came down and talked to me. It took the form of a journal entry. He spoke to me through my own handwriting. He perpetuated the theme of this season: Time to come out of hiding. Layer by layer, God has been stripping me of my coping mechanism, my hiding places, my misbehaviors, my sin... basically everything that comes between me and Him. I am so grateful for this difficult process. Thankfully He hasn't stripped them, but He has faithfully peeled back layer at a time.
This one, on Sunday, came after a few days of doing things intentionally my way. See there is a time when our coping mechanism and hiding places become disobedience, and disobedience lived in too long is rebellion. I think God has some things to say about rebellion in the Old Testament; in short, it is a big deal. The conversation this Sunday was really sweet. I saw my labelled hiding spot as a giant heavy and nasty cloak I have slung over my shoulders. It represents the lies I am believing, the negative emotions that follow the lies, and the unhealthy patterns that follow the emotions. All of these are weighty, oppressive, and quite frankly really nasty. I saw and felt this cloak. Suddenly Isaiah 61 came to mind. He has come to give me good news. To trade that nasty, heavy cloak for the garments of praise, the oil of gladness, the light of His presence. He wants to give me a new cloak, one that has been dipped in the blood of His Son.
Here is what it takes: I have to take off the old cloak, lay it at His feet, and accept this new garment. To know this truth is enlivening. Then comes the obedience of wearing His clothes. So He dispells the lies, he comforts the negative emotions, and asks me to obey in changing the unhealthy patterns. I know He will not leave me a lone, but I also know the expression of faith is obedience. If I'm gonna wear His clothes, I can't go rolling around in the mud again.
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