Who Is She? Who Are We?
By: Kristen L. McNulty
If you enjoyed this Impact devotional, the author would love to hear from you. Email her at kristenmcnulty@hotmail.com.
If you'd like to reprint this devotional, please email the author first and she will get back to you within 24 hours. Thank you for your consideration.
She wears a smile on her face and wears it well. Those who know her describe her as joyful and kind. Her eyes sparkle with humour and she's considered the life of the party.
But behind closed doors, this girl looks strikingly different. She doesn't know who she is. She's afraid of the future and isn't too sure about hope. Her heart is fragile and the broken pieces are being chipped away. Darkness lurks in her heart and eyes. She waits to be rescued, but runs from the Prince who chases after her heart.
The game she plays is unintentional. A little dance to make sure no one can see beyond the surface. The picture painted there is so stained and broken, she doesn't think anyone could bear to look.
But she's forgetting something. She's forgetting that Someone can already see that picture. He see's the stains of failure. The blotches of mistakes made. And the spots where the canvas has been ripped and torn by others careless thoughts and deeds.
He knows who this girl really is and knows exactly what she needs. Yet still she hides.
Does this girl sound familiar? Really, she could be any one of us. How easy is it to get caught up in living a lie? Looking perfect and all together on the outside when really the inside is rotting and dying.
But there is good news to this girls story. To our story. And that good news is- it doesn't have to be this way. The dance of anger, hurt, and pain can be replaced with a dance of joy, peace, and love. But it's all up to us to choose who we're going to dance with.
We can dance in a pity part of our own, being swept through webs of lies and brought through valleys of darkness. Or we can choose a different partner: someone who leads us through the pain and carries us when we don't think we can stand on our own two feet any longer.
You see Jesus knows how messy our lives can be. Let's not forget He walked these same roads for over 33 years. He knows the state of our hearts and just how easy it is to run and hide. But He also knows that it's no way to live a life and eventually even what's buried deep comes to the surface.
And that's why He offers us another way. A life lived with transparency and filled with a peace. A life where what's on the surface reflects what's going on deep down inside. And a life where that's okay. Because after all, I have the feeling that most of the pictures that are painted deep down inside look very similar.
Psalm 147:3 says that "[God] heals the broken-hearted and bandages their wounds." We all have wounds in life- pain that has hit us deep within our souls. And the question is not whether or not God can heal us of this things. The question is whether or not we want Him to. We can live life like the girl described. Or we can let God come in and do what He does best- the choices is yours and mine.
Because there is so much more to our lives than what can be seen on the surface.
This devotional was aired as a part of the Making A Difference Christian Radio Show.