4:193 – Stripping It All Away

#faithbites #faithjourney stripping

Setting

Somedays we get caught up in the day to day and all the activities we have. We have many layers to our life, our personality, and our actions. Today, when I was getting ready for my shower something changed. Rather than just stripping off my clothes, I slowly took off my belt and took a breath. Then my pants, shirts, etc. Each time, I thought about what I was doing and was living in the moment. When I was done, I took another look at myself in the mirror and just breathed. (I realized that God made me that way. No clothes, no responsibilities, no nothing. Just me and God for a few minutes. I know you didn’t need that mental image, but now you have it.)

This moment made me realize how quickly I go through life and don’t appreciate what is there. I don’t feel what is going on or realize in what I’m doing. This same experience can be had if you savor your food and focus on the flavors of the food. When we begin stripping away all the “other stuff” in life, we make time for God and make space to listen to what he’s saying.

Today’s Questions: What can you do to strip away the extra to make space for what God has to you. How do you feel if you stand naked in front of God? Are you ready to spend more time with God in this stripped state?

Scripture

• Genesis 2:25 – And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.
• Ezekiel 16:7-8 – I made you flourish like a plant of the field. And you grew up and became tall and arrived at full adornment. Your breasts were formed, and your hair had grown; yet you were naked and bare. “When I passed by you again and saw you, behold, you were at the age for love, and I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness; I made my vow to you and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Lord God, and you became mine.

Reflection

Nakedness is common in the Bible as it shows being your true self in front of God. Normally when we think about Adam and Eve, we think about them being naked and ashamed after eating the apple. (Original Sign). The verse I shared Gen 2:25, if before this happens. It shows that they were naked before him and were not ashamed. They were their true stripped selves for him.

Later, in Ezekiel, we see that when we needed to be clothed, God governed us with his garment and made his vow to keep us and claim us forever. This passage reassured me of how much God loves me. It also shows us that God sees through any clothing or masks we wear to hide our true nature. Others may see only what you want them to see, but God sees all.

A few takeaways.. God sees us for who we are no matter what we do. Let’s not try to hide from him as it’s wasted energy. Second, others may only see what we want to show them, but when it’s not the real us, cracks show. Finally, we can have respite from wearing a mask, if we take the time to truly feel what we are doing, live in the moment, we can make that space to be naked in front of God.

Prayer

Father God, you made us naked and love us for who you made. Sometimes we put on clothes and masks to hide from You and hide from others. YOu see through it, so we are only fooling ourselves. Also, as we do this, we don’t live in the moment and waste energy. Lord We ask you for your love and support in stripping down to the basics. Help us not be ashamed before you. Help us to feel everything that you want us to be and make us listen. If we can’t strip away these extra levels, please do it for us. Put us in challenging situations so we can be the people you truly want us to. In your name, we pray, Amen.