It’s Time to Dig In and Dig Out

I’m good at going through my day, my week, my life happy. I’m great at being real enough that I don’t portray perfection, but not so real that we discuss the messy stuff.

The problem is that on some level, I’m pretending. I’m pretending everything is fine. I’m pretending I don’t get jealous and envy what others have. I’m pretending that my anger doesn’t claw its way out of me regularly. I’m pretending I don’t pretend.

It’s like we spend our lives washing one side of our hands only to ignore how dirty the other side is.

But this is why we are here. It’s time to be real, really real, and it’s for one important reason:

So people can see Jesus.

Before we can get any further in our Heart Cleaning, we need to dig in our heels and decide it’s time to dig out. It’s time to empty every shelf, closet, and let light under the layers we’ve built up in our hearts.

It won’t be all bad. Sometimes we find treasures and old gifts among the broken pieces and things we’d rather leave hidden. Right now we don’t need to decide what’s what. All we need to do is decide to go through it all.

When I dig out, I find so many things I don’t like:

• I get jealous of what other people have
• I am insanely insecure and fear those I love leaving me
• I get really mad sometimes
• I wish my house was nicer, newer, prettier
• I wish I was nicer, newer, prettier
• I don’t always like church

I find a few things in there I’ve forgotten, too:

• I am a good leader
• I am smart
• I am good at baking
• I am happily married
• I am a good mom

When I take all of this out and line it up in the light, it’s not nearly as intimidating as when it was in the crooks of my heart.

Get it out into the light. Whatever it is; the things you don’t like and the things you do. Once it’s in the light, you can decide what to do with it.

Today's prayer:

Lord, help me unpack all the stuff in my heart.

I give You all the good, bad, and everything in between because I long for You to make something beautiful out of all the pieces.

Thank You for loving all the parts of me. In the precious name of Jesus, Amen.