I had taken my usual place on the elliptical machine and was about halfway through my workout. For those of you who don’t know, an elliptical machine is a piece of cardio equipment. I was getting pretty tired but I was also reflecting on the things of God. I can’t remember exactly what I was thinking about but often times my mind just wanders to His goodness when I’m exercising.
I grabbed a drink from my water bottle and turned my head. There to my left stood a young woman I’d seen before. Other times there had been nothing unusual about her but this time it was different. This time I saw a couple of things.
I saw an angelic being holding a brilliantly white robe, a small creature and a tattered robe that was white but soiled and dull. I didn’t see these things necessarily in that order but the angelic being was standing behind the young woman holding out the robe like it was ready to drop the garment over her shoulders at a moments notice.
The small creature faced the angel. It was an ugly thing and it held a sword in its hand that was raised ready to strike. A chain ran from the creature to the young woman. Seeing the sword made sense of the tattered garment I saw lying on the floor beside the girl.
I began to ask the Lord to explain what I was seeing. I head the soft voice of the Holy Spirit telling me about the situation. He told me that the creature was called shame. It had destroyed the beautiful garment the woman had worn a long time ago. But another garment had already been prepared and it was so close to being wrapped around the young lady who had experienced things that severely wounded her heart-Things that she’d done but also things that had been done to her.
Shame seems so big doesn’t it? The associated guilt and condemnation can be suffocating. I know. I’ve lived it. There’s a very good chance you have too. You might even be living it now. Sometimes it seems like our adversary has a special loudspeaker designed only to broadcast our greatest failures to the world. At least it seems like it’s going to the world. In reality it’s only in our minds but many times it doesn’t seem like there’s a difference.
But what if we knew that that the shame, guilt and condemnation, seen and felt as if they were giants, were in reality just tiny little ugly impish creatures secured by the lies they’ve gotten us to believe? What if the “giants” are just hoping against hope that we never see them as they really are?
Chains are broken by revelation of truth. The truth that destroys the chains of shame is the revelation of perfect love. That’s a love that sees us filthy, broken, stained and lost and runs to wrap its arms around us. That’s perfect love. That’s God. The entanglement of sin is not strong enough to stand against the Love of God. It’s not ugly or offensive enough to make Him stay at arms reach.
The only thing that keeps Him at arms reach is us. We do that by not believing in a love so perfect, a love that would embrace us in the midst of all our garbage. The reason shame can seem so big is because we’ve believed its lies. Lies that tell us we are torn beyond repair, too ugly, unlovable, insignificant, failures and much more. The power it gains to shred the truth comes from us.
But if we let Him embrace us a love beyond measure will destroy all darkness, surround and consume us. And in His grasp we will hear the words, “Let me take the dirty rags and give you a stunning robe.”
It’s the truth of His perfect love that cleanses us, purifies us, wipes stains away, heals scars, mends broken hearts, lifts up, comforts and forgives us.
The angel was waiting for the young woman to finally realize how deeply she’s loved. It was waiting for her to understand that forgiveness is available in an instant. Waiting for her to let go of the rags because as truth increases the enemy is stripped of power. Chains are broken, creatures destroyed and robes secured around one of God’s precious daughters.
Blessings,
Jesse and Kara Birkey
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