Laid Bare
All that we are All that we hide All that we run from All that we are afraid to confront, We are laid bare before You.
All that breaks our fragile hearts All that threatens our life All that threatens our joy All that will one day fade away, We are laid bare before You. All that brings chaos and confusion All that breads the anxiety that cripples All that are heavy in heart All that feel lost and alone, We are laid bare before You.
All that we walk away from All that we walk toward All that we wrestle with All that makes us insecure , We are laid bare before You. All that has become our strengths All that is seen as weaknesses All that we have to let go All that we hold onto, We are laid bare before You. All that we are becomes all that we have All that we are becomes pieces of the testimony that You are writing in us, Jesus, We are laid bare before You.
"Laid bare." Two months after the moment when this photo was taken, I'm reminded of the two words which came to my mind in that moment...
"Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." - David, Psalm 139: 23-24
Psalm 139 also comes to my mind now as I write the words that you are reading. Currently, I am sitting overlooking the Canadian border divided by Lake St. Clair and I can't help but notice the sky that hangs over the moving waters. I can't help but notice that this sky is darkening by the second, as the sun sets yet again marking the end of another day... Yet even as the time of day changes, nothing can take away the reality of those two words application in this moment; We are laid bare before You Jesus.
As I sit here as the light of day fades even quicker... I can't help but reflect on the many moments that have led me to where I am as I write this... and I can't help but think about you who is reading this now... I wonder what all of the moments that have led you here... in this moment... are as you read these words that my fingers are currently typing on this laptop in my lap;
Yet, even as I write these words as the sun sets around me... We are laid bare before You Jesus.
What is your story? You... who read this now. Oh how your story matters...
Goodness... it's amazing how temperatures can drop so suddenly! Even as I type these words, the wind is starting to pick up... Yet every chilling wind that hits my skin as I sit here, is no surprise to You as I decide to take refuge in my car that is now surrounded by the complete darkness of night, even though moments ago it was still illuminated by the dusk. It blows my mind that even though we change... and even though seasons change... and the temperature may change around us so quickly... You do not. And through it all? We are still laid bare before You.
All of our confusion, our grief, our worry, our doubt, our questions, our hurt... All that we are in this moment All that we are is so present to us, and is so real to us now, and still, all that we are is not foreign to You Lord; We are laid bare before You.
Jesus, My heart, our hearts are laid bare before you now, just as it was in the forest where the picture above was taken on that cold February day. Lord, You know our anxious thoughts and you know the heavy hearts of every soul of every person in the sea of faces that is all around us! Even though I am laid bare before You... I so often numb myself to Your presence and ignore You day by day.
All that my hands produce, all that our hands produces, is meaningless apart from You... this I know; but just like a child ignoring the fact that they are clearly seen by their parents, we so willingly choose to ignore that we are laid bare before you. The good, The bad, The ugly... All that we are is Yours. Forgive me for hiding. Forgive us Father.
"Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you..." - David, Psalm 139: 7, 11-12
"Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." - David, Psalm 139: 23-24
"... even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day..." "... even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day..."
Remind me that You are here... now. Remind us that You are here... now. You are faithful... Oh how our stories matter to You! We matter to You so much... and You will never leave us where You find us.
Remind us that You will never leave us, even for a moment, Help us surrender all we hold... to all You are. Remind us that You. are. here. You are here now... We are laid bare before You.
-J
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3qGssYNdkU&w=560&h=315]