Posers

I think there's a secret fear lurking inside us all. It's the fear of being "found out." Of someone finding out who we really are. How weak and fragile we really are. How unlovely we really are. How complex and difficult we really are. The fear that, if these things were really known, no one would want to be with or around us. No one would stay with us. Everyone would leave us. Author John Eldredge writes of the fear of being exposed as nothing more than a "poser," pretending to be what he feared he could never be. That fear is shared by so many, both men and women. We are, far too many of us, "posers" in our day to day lives.To combat these fears, we construct facades of self-protection, feeling that though we may never be close with someone, neither will they be able to wound us, hurt us, leave us. The ruse can work very well. Except with One. It never works with Him.

In Matthew 1 we're told an angel of the Lord appears to Joseph and spoke to him of Mary, who was betrothed to him as a wife. Mary, who even now carried the child born of the Holy Spirit. Immanuel. Jesus. The Messiah. The angel told Joseph that it was this child Jesus and that it was He who would, "save His people from their sins." The prophet Isaiah, speaking of this same child 500 years earlier said, ".....and He will be called Immanuel, meaning, 'God is with us.' " 

We become "posers" because we are born into a fallen world where we have no idea who we were created to be. No idea who we can be in Him. Feeling isolated and cut off is natural to us. Try as we may, we can't undo the damage. We can't make things right. We can't save ourselves. God, in His love, knew this. He still knows it. It's why He sent and gave us the gift of His Son. Jesus. Immanuel. God with us. God, always with us and always for us. Jesus undoes the damage, heals the wounds, restores life. Life as He means it to be. His life. Eternal life.

You see, this Jesus comes to us, seeks us out. He not only seeks entrance into our hearts, He's fully aware of all that is within them. He knows what's unlovely. He knows where the fear is, the anger, and the hatred. Hatred towards others, and yes, towards ourselves. He knows where the wounds and hurts are. Some years, even decades old. He knows what no one else knows, and none of it turns Him away from us. He comes in love. He ministers to the wounds and hurts in love. He cleanses our hearts in love. He heals in love and He stays in love. He doesn't leave, abandon, or reject us. Our failures don't deter Him, and though there may be places of ugliness within us, we ourselves are beautiful to Him. He breaks through our facades and layers of self-protection and reaches us where we live. He reaches who we really are. He's Jesus, God with us. Always with us.

Are you hiding today? Are you living under layers of self-protection, years, decades in the making? These layers may have succeeded in keeping others out, but they can't keep Him out. Two thousand years ago this child was given to us. Jesus. Immanuel. God with us. Have you received Him? He knows your name. He sees you, and He sees not only who you are, but where you are. He won't turn away. He won't abandon you. He loves you. As you are and where you are. But He will not leave you there. He will shape your life into what it was created to be. He's come for you. Will you now come to Him.....poser no longer?

Blessings,

Pastor O