If I had.....

There's a cute childrens song that says "If i had a little white box to put my Jesus in....I'd take Him out and smooch smooch smooch and share Him with my friends." We hear this song around our house often but I was thinking about that song and how much it means, but because of the child like twist of it we fail to recognize the words for what they are worth. How many times do we put Jesus in a little box?? We take Him out when its conveinent for us and share Him with others when we feel comfortable.

Something I am learning is how much I have put Him in a box, failing to recognize His power and how big He truely is. We often think our problems in life are either too big or to small for God to care about so we tuck Him away in a shiney little box. We go to church and put on this facade that everything is ok, we become plastic people and make the world think that we have it all together all the time. How many people around you look like they have it all together?? The perfect marriage, the perfect job, the perfect kids, a nice house, nice cars a life that we all long for. I bet underneath all that though are broken people. People with messy messy lives that nobody else can see. I'm not saying we have to stand in church on Sunday and project all of lifes hurts and struggles on the overhead screen but how many of us are fake and we use God when He is convenient and when it looks good. I am guilty of this and its something that lately I have had to just plain get over!!!!

I believe we all come to an earth shattering storm in our lives where things that we thought were important begin to be stripped away and all those things that we thought made up who we are begin to one by one be taken away until it leave us naked and real before the Lord. We begin to get real with ourselves and others and realize it wasnt those "things" that made up who we are but the very hurts and battles we have been through that really define us. We are all put on the frotlines of a battlefield in life every single day, we are hurt, broken and wounded. I dont know one person on earth that doesnt have scars from life somewhere hidden where nobody can seem them. Maybe you have scars from a hurtful childhood, a failed marriage, a job that didnt work out, rebelious kids, a past addiction, a broken friendship whatever it is it hurts. We try to cover up those past hurts before others and the Lord because we are so afraid "if they only knew" then we wouldnt be loved or accepted. I have learned that times where I laid myself before the Lord bearing my ugly scars is when He has used me and allowed my hurts to be used for something amazing in the life of another.

Before I became a christian 9 years ago one of the things that turned me off the most about God was that it always seemed like Christians had it all together. At that time I was 18 and had alot of things going on that made me so unqualified to "fit" into that life so I thought. I looked at it as there is no way I will ever fit in, I'm a mess and those people have it all together just look at them. I was so wrong and it took a while for me to figure this out and really its something I am still trying to understand. It wasnt that all those people had it all together it was just that they all looked like it. I started learning quickly that to God its not us having it all together, its not about us becoming unmessy first but its about allowing God to be present in the midst of our messyness. Its about allowing God to tear down that facade and allowing us to be broken, hurt and messy before Him so that He can clean us up, rid us of all the messyness and trade our ashes for beauty. 1 Samuel 12:22 NIV "For the sake of his great name the LORD will not reject his people, because the LORD was pleased to make you his own." He doesnt reject us regardless of what we have done but instead He picks us up and loves on us because He has made us perfectly. We are human and we all make mistakes....let me tell you I have made some whoppers lately but we have to realize we all mess up, not just some but all. None of us are perfect, none of us have it all together and if there is someone that thinks they do or that they havent screwed up royally then they are lying and probably need to evaluate their own lives.

We had a saturday night service at our church a few years back and it was called Mosaic. I have always loved this from the moment I heard about it. It represents how broken we all are, none of us are perfect we all have rough edges and things that have happened in our lives that have altered who we are. But God can take all those pieces of brokeness and put them together to make something so beautiful. In order for this to happen though I think we have to come to a place where we stop trying to put God in a little tiny box. We need to start realizing that He is so much bigger than we can imagine. Luke 12:7 "Indeed the very hairs of your head are all numbered." Psalm 139:13 "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful." Wow how big is our God truely, He has numbered each and every hair on our head but yet we put Him in a box and think He isnt big enough for whatever we are facing. Deuteronomy 31:6 NIV " Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you."

Its time to get real...regardless of where you have been or what you have been through God cares. He has numbered the hairs on your head and cares about every little aspect of your being. The world will fail us time and time again but God will never. Take off that veil and allow your brokeness to be placed before the Lord and ask Him to heal those parts that need healing and to use your scars for whatever will bring glory and honor to Him. Allow God to be present in whatever you are facing regardless of how big or little you may think it is He cares and He wants to stand alongside you and help guide you through the hurt. He wants to pick you up in those times when you dont think you can take one more step and be holding signs from the cheering section rooting you on when things are going great. We had a service at church last winter in which people shared cardboard testimonies of how God had delivered them from battles that some of us can't even imagine. Standing on that stage they all looked like they had it together, they were at a place where God was using them but when they flipped over that piece of cardboard we all stood amazed at what they had been through. They are people who we see walking around everyday like you and I but that have been delivered by God's grace and set free from hurts that tell a beautiful story. People that are the most kind, God sharing people you would ever meet but that have had real hurts, and struggles in their lives. God does not pick or choose who's story to put on the bestseller list but He uses them all. What does God want to do with your story???