Last night we had a concert by Jamie Kay from Weatherford Texas, our minister’s son. It was the kind of concert that left you wanting to say “Yes!” to someone afterwards. Jamie has had a colorful past…he’s been shot, a bounty hunter, an a/c repair man, many jobs…much searching….was open about it….and yet displayed the kind of “I know grace, I know forgiveness, you can too” reality that very few Christians will admit to others about themselves. We’re all too busy wearing the mask of perfect.
I don’t know about you but I need God. NEED forgiveness, mercy, grace, understanding and everything else God offers me through His word. I don’t have my act together, I’m not even sure what together would look like. All I know is that I want this unimagineable love that God has given me and I want everyone else to have it too.
One of the most encouraging things I saw yesterday was the father pride of our minister Jackie Kay for his boy. This boy had openly acknowledged his struggles and past…his humanness…yet his father couldn’t have been prouder of him last night singing his heart. Oh that we should all look at our children that way. My heart smiles when I see a father’s eyes so proud of a son, so publically acknowledging that “that boy is mine” look. I long for my children to know that kind of love from not only their dad, but from their father in heaven. I long to know that kind of look from God myself.
No masks are required. God doesn’t say “Thou shall wrap thy outward appearance and behaviors in a confining shape, molded only in one way” God made us all uniquely, differently, with different gifts, talents, and experiences. He didn’t have a cookie cutter for Adam or Eve, he made us all individuals with different abilities. God hasn’t called us to be perfect. He hasn’t told us 3 strikes and we’re out….he’s told us that no matter what we do, nothing can seperate us from His love. That if we come to him with a repentent heart and a desire to turn from our sins, there is forgiveness for our sins. That no matter how long we’ve sinned or what we’ve done, that Father God wants us to return to His fold…that even one lost and found again is rejoiced over….even if 99 were never lost….God loves us, he loves you…and I am so thankful that he doesn’t require us to wear a mask of perfection but He asks only that we transparently come to him with our heart and flesh showing…no mask required!
Colossians 12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
Jamie’s concert reminds me once again that it is when we are weakest that God shows His great love and mercy to us. When we are powerless against that which we face, God’s power overtakes us and fights for us….that when we submit to God’s love and plans for our life, our life takes on new meaning….the anchor indeed does hold…let us all cling to God in the storms!
God is good!
P.S. These acrylic masks are truly worn by Nie Nie and her husband….who are recovering from a horrid plane crash last year….Nie nie struggles with her new physical image after being burned terribly in the crash….but I have learned her heart through reading her honest accounts of how hard this is…and she’s never been more beautiful….
