There are places that we would rather others never saw. Maybe, we don’t want our spouse to realize the disgust that courses through us when we do something that we don’t feel is our responsibility. Maybe it’s an attempt to shield an outburst of anger from a coworker that they have never seen before. We could go on and on but there are times when we have all been ashamed of our actions and ashamed to have been seen by others behaving that way.
I have found that there are times when I attempt to interact with God in the same way that I interact with others – shielding the disgusting and reprehensible from his view. This is certainly silly in the most basic sense in that most of us would profess that God is all-knowing, but it is a revelation of how we are prone to view ourselves: as god. In other words, if no one ever truly sees our thoughts or even some of our actions then maybe, just maybe, they either never really happened or we are able to control the impact they have on our lives and the lives of others.
I was privileged to hear the song, Four Days Late, in our church service a few weeks ago. It is a song that I have heard a multitude of times but as it was sung this last time I began to think about a God. The God. The Personable God who wasn’t worried about the stink of a dead body. It’s one thing to take God to the graveyard and point out a sealed tomb and pretend as if our problem has been neutralized and is now sealed away with only our grief and separation remaining. It’s quite another thing to expose the stink of our lives to Him fully. The God who called Lazarus from the grave could have easily called him through the rock if He had so desired.
So in the course of your life if you and God ever come across one of your tombs and you don’t want it opened because of the smell remember, what you smell as death, He has the authority and desire to call to life. What we might try to convince Him is dealt with He may be ready to bring to new life.
Lazarus, Come Forth!
If you want to be blessed by Taylor’s song click on the link below and move on up to around the 19 minute mark. The sound is a little off for a few seconds but I believe you will be blessed.
Seek Understanding 