Do you find peoples expectations of you overwhelming?
There is a glory chest that has been in our family for many years. My grandfather built if for my grandmother before he went to war. It was then handed down to my mother and when I got married it was handed to me.
I thought it was the ugliest thing I had ever seen. It was covered in a layer of thick white paint. The doors and side panels were upholstered in the most awful blue/grey linoleum.
As it was gifted to me I thought to myself, "If I have to have this thing I was going to make some changes to it!" As I removed all the layers of paint I found a beautiful wood underneath. Solid, rich and inviting. The thick layers of paint were hiding the beauty underneath.
Some of us are hiding under a layer of paint!
For years others have covered us with their opinions of who we should be and how we should behave. What we can do and what we can’t. Our true self is hidden by layers of expectation.
When we allow other people to put judgments and expectations on us we are in danger of losing ourselves and who God created us to be.
Some of us have so many layers of paint that we don’t even know what the 'real wood' underneath looks like?
Is that you?
Is there a small voice inside you that is crying to get out?
True happiness and satisfaction comes when we strip away the layers others have placed on us.
I did not know what was underneath all that white paint. But when I got to the original wood it was beautiful and of exceptional quality.
God wants to do a restoration process with you. He wants to remove the layers so that the ‘true you’ shines for the world to see and delight in.
We do this by learning who we were originally created to be, and the way we learn this by prayer and the word.
We do it by immersing ourselves in God and His truth. His truth is the only thing that can dissolve those layers of veneer. If we take hold of the truth of who we are then when others attempt to place a veneer on us it won’t stick.
God’s truth is solid and unchanging and when we grasp hold of it we will never allow others to cover us in paint again.
But there’s more!
God doesn’t only want to reveal the original wood; He then wants to carve into it. There is an ongoing process where He is shaping and growing us in Christ-likeness.
When Jesus met Simon he said, “Your name is Simon, son of John- but you will be called Cephas”, which means Peter – Rock.
Through Peter’s relationship with Jesus, Peter was carved into the rock. Jesus saw him as he was and called him on towards who he was going to be.
God is not interested in slapping labels or judgments on us. He wants us to open our heart and expose the raw wood on which He can begin to carve His design in.
God does not create things that are flimsy or temporary instead He carves things of value that will last for eternity.
Lord,
I invite You to remove the layers of veneer that have been placed on me. I want the true wood, my authentic self that You created to come to the front and shine out.
Amen
