Wet, Yucky Clothes
A few months ago my identity had been stolen. The culprits had all my information…cc numbers, driver’s license number, social security number…you name it. It was a very eye opening time in my life because all of the sudden I felt violated and extremely vulnerable. I had to struggle to find meaning to why this had happened to me. I had to turn all my trust and understanding over to God and let Him illuminate the reason for this intrusion.
Then the Lord took me a little deeper…with me kicking and screaming all the way. He reminded me that I need to not worry…that this had actually been a blessing in disguise…but I would first need to “take off some layers” of not trusting Him. At first my pride puffed up and I thought to myself… “How could He say that to me…I mean I am walking out on faith and going on the mission field to another country…what else could I trust Him with?????
See…in trying to figure out on my own… why something like this would happen…the Lord informed me that I was not secure in His love and His Identity and most of all completely trusting Him. We as humans are like that…especially being single. We try to conform to this world and its ideas and when something goes terribly wrong…the rug is literally pulled out from under us. It is as if we are standing on a tight rope in the middle of a hurricane.
The Bible tells us an important lesson:
We are to TRUST in the Lord with all “our” heart and lean not on “our” understanding…in ALL “our” ways acknowledge Him and He will direct “our” paths. Proverbs 3:5-6
Our job is not to figure out things…but to simply trust. The meaning of the word TRUST according to Webster’s Dictionary is assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something. Now noticed it did not say “self reliance” which is relying or depending on “our” own strength…but assured reliance…which means you know it without any doubts…that you can rely and depend! And that brings great comfort when you don’t know how to handle the cards you have been dealt.
That’s where I was…I didn’t know how in the world “I” was going to spin this. It was only until I prayed one day… “Lord…I know you have allowed me to go through this…please let me know what you want me to learn from this? Please let me TRUST you and rest in knowing you have my best interest at heart. It was that easy. I had to let go of my self assurance and allow Him to come and do a work in my heart.
From then on He showed me wonderful and beautiful things…and in His loving way…also continued to show me some areas in my life I did not trust Him. It was as if I had fallen into a pool and had layers upon layers of wet, yucky clothes on. With every recognition of areas I did not trust Him, one of those yucky layers came off. With each layer that came off…I was able to move around more freely and feel more satisfied. “My identity was slowly fading away…which is what Christ wants for us. And with each layer that came off…the Lord would put on “new layers”. They were warm and soft and smelled so fresh. I was becoming totally assured of His character…his ability…his strength…his truth. I was coming to a place of trust.
I will be honest and tell you I am still working on some of those “layers” coming off…but I will say this…I feel a lot lighter than I was and my ability to be free is more attainable than ever.
Do you feel as if you are weighed down by those yucky wet layers in life? Maybe you are like me and are feeling so tired of not understanding that you are willing to have Him peer into your heart and tell you where you fall short. And according to the Bible…we all fall short!
If you will simply come to Him with a humble heart…ready to hear what He has to say…you will find you can trust him…you can completely rely on Him to “dry you off”.
