Two Roads: Please God, Or Trust Him?Sample

Somewhere along the way in our walks, we lose confidence that God’s delight and new life in us is strong enough to haul away the failures we presume stand between Him and us. We can point to aspects of our lives that aren’t changing fast enough. Soon, we’re back to trying to impress a God we imagine is growing more and more impatient with us. We learn to bluff, manipulating and managing our persona to appear better than who we fear we are.

No one tells us that this two-faced life severely stunts our growth. Or that it breaks our hearts. No matter how many titles and accolades we accumulate, we remain wounded and immature—long on “success,” but short on dreams and substance. We may admire people who live the Trueface life, but our loss of hope forces us to scramble for safety from behind a mask. The cost is horrific. No one tells us that when we wear masks, only our mask receives love. We can gain admiration and respect from behind a mask. We can even intimidate. But as long as we’re behind a mask, any mask, we will not be able to receive love. Then, in our desperation to be loved, we’ll rush to fashion more masks, hoping the next will give us what we’re longing for: to be known, accepted, trusted and loved.

This is no new phenomenon. Remember its source? God came in the cool of the day to be with Adam and Eve. He called out to a hiding Adam, “Where are you?” though He knew very well where Adam was. Adam responded, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.”

Adam and Eve had become aware of their shame and it prompted them to hide from God. This is how shame works, and it’s different from guilt. Guilt wants to lead us to forgiveness, to be cleansed. Shame drives us to hide, convinced we cannot truly be forgiven or made clean. So we cover up. We put on a mask and begin bluffing. After a while, we can barely remember how to live any other way.

The good news of the gospel is that we do not have to stay hidden, afraid, and unknown. Jesus has given us a way home.