The Water's Edge

When I woke up this morning I rolled out of bed and walked to the bathroom. I turned on the light and saw my reflection. I was not amused by what I saw. My face was splotchy and oily. I felt gross. I stood there trying to figure out just how much makeup it would take for me to feel comfortable enough to show my face in public. I applied layer after layer trying to hide all of the blemishes that appeared while I was sleeping.

Keeping that in mind, let's fast forward a few hours. My mom and I headed to the beach. As many of you know, I am not a beach goer, but time to time, I will grab a good book and admire another aspect of God's creation. When I stepped off the stairs onto the sand, I was disgusted. I very much prefer sand that is soft and smooth. This sand was covered with dried up seaweed, shells, pieces of wood and cigarette butts. I carefully walked around each piece of debris until I found a clear enough space to stop and sit.

I tried to kick the sand around to cover up some of the "grossness" that was under my feet before I laid the blanket down. When I finally laid it down, I sat and looked out at the ocean. It was beautiful and peaceful. There was a blanket of fog still in the air, with a hint of sun peaking through the clouds. It really was a wonderful sight. That sight is the reason that I try to make one trip to the beach each year. I decided to be adventurous (my own kind of adventurous) and walk down to the water.

 Right at the waters edge there is more sand of course, but that sand appears smooth and clean. I found myself a nice spot to stand right between two fisherman who couldn't be bothered by my odd observations. As soon as I took a step onto the wet sand, my feet sank in. However, the sand that I thought was soft and clean, was just covering up hundreds of tiny rocks. The water had washed sand up and over the rocks, covering them. All it took was a little pressure and the blemishes were revealed.

I stood there for a few minutes, sinking into the pile of rocks under the sand. Here's what came to my mind. We spend so much time covering things up. Whether that's outward appearance like I had spent my morning doing, or trying to make sure your kids are well behaved in public. We want to look as if we have our lives together even when they aren't. We try to hide the blemishes and the faults, saving those for when we are alone. I will be the first one to admit that I do it all the time. Sometimes without even realizing what I'm doing. I smile when I'm not happy, I paint makeup on my face on to hide the fact that I haven't slept in days and I make sure that I'm always dressed up even though I would rather be in pajamas.

Here's the thing, before I even took a step on that sand, the Lord knew that those rocks were hidden under the sand. He saw right through it. He sees through every layer of makeup I put on, He sees through every fake smile, and every polished conversation. I have this tendency to want to hide my sin and my mistakes from God, just like I try to hide them from everyone else. I get stuck in my own mind thinking that I need to impress God. I need to be good enough, and nice enough, and pretty enough. As if He cares about those things. I attempt to keep my sin and my blemishes in a nice box in the corner. The thing is, it has a way of coming out.

Hebrews 4:13 says, Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.

Did you catch that? Nothing in ALL creation is hidden. That means my little box in the corner, isn't hidden from Him, not even the pimple that I plastered with makeup is hidden from Him. He knows my thoughts before I think them and He knows what I am going to say before I say it. He sees each one of my flaws, yet He loves me. I am loved by the One who created me. It's something we hear often, but sometimes it strikes me as profound.

When I think about how much time and energy I spend trying to appear perfect, it's overwhelming. Why do we do that? Why do we feel the need to cover things up and make them appear beautiful?
The simple answer is that its the Enemy. He knows our weaknesses and our desires and he plays on them. It's time to stop. Stop hiding, because nothing is hidden from the Lord. He can see it all. Each one of us is beautiful in His eyes and loved beyond measure. It's time that we start acting like it.