I guess you would call…5 years ago…an “undressing and getting naked!” LOL! If you read the Back 9 at all and have gotten to know me…you probably by now realize…there was an “renewing” in me a few years ago. It was a recognition that Jesus was second in my life and if He was second, He may as well have been last.
What did that renewing do for me? It made me realize religion is all about protocol. Following Jesus is all about desperation. A vibrant relationship with our Creator is all about dropping our ego…our self-conscious and becoming God-conscious…
…sold out…
…to the point of desperation.
Realizing desperate people take desperate measures. My model became…Someone who would fast for 40 days. Someone who was willing to pray through the night and die the most cruel of deaths on a cross.
What is the “naked” I am referring to? Comes from the story of David…who disrobed! :o) David needed God. David was desperate for God…and the desperation led to him disrobing.
It is quite the story. Not everyone was thrilled with his desperation. Read 2 Samuel 6:20-21, “And David returned to bless his household. But Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David and said, ‘How the king of Israel honored himself today, uncovering himself today before the eyes of his servants’ female servants, as one of the vulgar fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!’ And David said to Michal, ‘It was before the Lord, who chose me above your father and above all his house, to appoint me as prince over Israel, the people of the Lord—and I will celebrate before the Lord.'”
I find on the Back 9 that God is looking for those who are so desperate for Him that they will go to ridiculous measures for Him and their worship of Him can look ridiculous to others. Amen?!
Can’t people please and God please…they cannot co-exist! Matthew 6:24, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other…”
Just looking at the people who Jesus celebrates in the gospels is enough for me.
*Men who dropped their fishing nets to following Him.
*The widow who dropped all she had to live on in the offering plate to give to Him.
*A man who jumps out of a boat to walk on water toward Him.
*A short man who is a distinguished tax collector but who climbs a tree to see Him.
*Four friends who cut a hole in a roof to lower a friend to be in front of Him for healing.
*And a man who raises a knife to his son’s chest in obedience and trust in Him.
Those are “naked” people! Desperate people desperate to be with and obey God!
I grew up in a church which sometimes gave an altar call for people to come down and pray. I am in one of those churches today. It can be an awkward moment to get up and walk and kneel in prayer, especially when most people do not. Satan has majorly attacked me before making me wonder and led me to thoughts of “what other people were thinking of me.”
Today, I think awkwardness and “nakedness” are a huge catalyst for spiritual growth. I now realize, after my “disrobing,” that feeling awkward, like kneeling to pray……raising my hands in worship….or having a tough conversation with someone close to me…is exactly where God shows up! It is obeying to the point of awkwardness. I have learned to crave or desire this feeling…to allow myself to be uncomfortable. To seek to be in places and positions where in my own strength…nothing is possible…without God. FAITH!
I encourage you not to avoid awkwardness. To allow God to take you to a place of such surrender. Him being first. That awkward becomes your “new normal.” It is there I have found….giant leaps in my faith, a deeper walk with Christ and a new awareness and renewing of knowing my life has great significance beyond what in my own strength is impossible.
HE NEVER DISAPPOINTS…You will find joy and laughter along the way! :o)
Psalm 21:6, “For you make him most blessed forever; you make him glad with the joy of your presence.”