Pretending

Angel

Jedi Knight

Hairdresser

Have you ever watched children engaged in imaginative play. I always enjoy seeing the world through their eyes. Over the years we have had explorers, hair dressers, Olympic skaters and skiers, Mary watching over baby Jesus, mechanics, computer scientists (before we owned a computer), along with a host of other characters in our home. This kind of pretending is healthy and important for children as they learn who they are and where they fit in the world around them. Adults pretend too. Much of that pretending isn't healthy.

So many of us spend our lives pretending. (I know I have.) Pretending everything is OK, pretending we’re happy, pretending life doesn’t hurt. But pretending isn’t really living. We hide in the shadows hoping no one will find out who we really are. God invites us to dance the dance of life with Him. Life can be one exciting and glorious adventure. (There will be pain and disappointment too – that’s just part of our fallen world.) The song Offering (Paul Baloche) includes this line: “There are no shadows in Your presence”. If we are going to really live our lives as God intends us to, we can’t hide in the shadows. We have to step out and dance with the King of the Universe.

Jeremiah 1:5 says “Before I formed you I knew you, before you were born I set you apart, I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

This is God’s call to Jeremiah. I believe it is His call to each of His children. He may not have appointed us as prophets, but He knows us intimately and has set each of us apart for a purpose.

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Phillipians 2:15 “so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe”

Phillipians 1:6 “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

God, give us the courage to let go of all the lies we have believed and move beyond our fears. Teach us to trust You and see ourselves as you see us. God teach us to dance instead of hiding in the shadows.

(In Do You Think I’m beautiful? Angela Thomas compares our walk with God to a dance.  I highly recommend this book as well as her Bible study with the same title.)

Originally published November 13, 2009