Old survival mechanisms being blotted out… and being blotted out for free?
The greatest days of our lives are when we endure the necessary suffering, only to then receive the crown—or better yet, to let Christ step in and flip the light switch on to show you the Garden He’s placed you in. Like that of Eden, the land here is lush with vegetation and diversity of life. He has purchased all of it for you, and you get to enjoy it fully now that you have been set free.
There is no guilt here. There is no shame here. There is no blaming the various aspects of your existence to try to make pretty the cave you decided to hide out in.
No, there is no fear. Because the Lord is your light and you salvation; He is the strength of your life so there is absolutely nothing to be afraid of. (Psalms 27:1)
The Altar of Abiding
In this space—this space of beholding and abiding—an overwhelming sense of compassion takes over. Specifically, it is the characteristic of charity that “beareth all things”, or as other translations put it, “protects all things”.
“Charity… Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.” — 1 Corinthians 13:7 KJV
“It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” — 1 Corinthians 13:7 NIV
The longing that no one else has to encounter the wicked one that stole so much joy, peace, and hope from you occupies this new space of the healed parts of you heart. You want—no, need—for your brothers and sisters to see that they are loved.
Not only that, but there is hope. There is so much hope out there that will not only help you, but will enable you to help someone else passing it on. This level of compassion that you feel deep down in your gut reaches into your soul—the unique part of who you are that God gifted you with, that no one else on this planet can comprehend in its fullness because He only gave it to you.
And you’re the only one who can pass it on.
When you don’t pass it on, the desire to use it becomes perverted and cancerous to who you are and what you do. But the moment you receive the desire and the gift, in its fullness, and choose to place it into Christ’s hands… He does exactly what it says in His Word.
He does the impossible.
The blind see. The deaf hear. The maimed walk. And the leper becomes radically transformed in an instant.
The Unfurling
This process of receiving your crown—stepping into the royal authority to be Christ’s hands and heal the way He healed—is much like the blossoming of a rose. The moment you confess your need for the Creator and allow Christ to step in, the unfurling begins.
The closed bud of the armor of shame is infiltrated by the Holy Spirit. He cracks open the sepals of your heart. In the opening of that outer layer—in the act of forgiveness and learning how to love your neighbor as yourself—the inner layer suddenly has enough space to spread its petals, stretching open to receive the Son. ☀️
Receiving the Son is more fully loving your neighbor as yourself. As you give to the people around you, the most beautiful aroma is released—emitting the sweet fragrance of the glory of God’s grace.
There is a transcendent beauty to behold in the blossoming of a believer who once hid in the bud, but now dares to stand fully open in the Father’s garden.
The Dare
To the one reading this who is still fiercely defending their own brokenness from inside the dark: drop your weapons. You do not have to pay a tax of shame to earn the beauty your soul is hungering for. The Father is standing on the horizon, watching for you, ready to completely replace the language of condemnation with the heavy, unadulterated weight of His glory.
The cave was a safe hiding place when you didn’t know how to ask. But the light switch has been flipped. The garden is open for you to explore.
We are just pilgrims passing through this life, and our days are far too short to live them bound by the rules of a corrupted past. Let the Leper-Cleanser touch the hidden face of your blame today. Step into the holy order of His space, let your heart untangle, and dare to blossom. The fragrance of your redemption belongs to the King, and it is time for the world to smell the grace.
🖤
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