Friends, We Cannot Truly Minister To Each Other From Behind the Veil of Perfection.

God has been teaching me something really BIG lately and the message has such life-changing power flowing through it that I just find myself wanting to shout it from the rooftops…

My friends, we cannot truly minister to each other’s hearts from behind the veil of perfection.

Our hearts are tender right now, easily recoiled back into our safe space when we feel that we don’t line up with what the world has told us we should be. We are resisting hiding, but the truth is that on the inside, we are feeling a slight tremble. “I’m strong, but please don’t test my strength. Please don’t see my vulnerabilities or witness my weaknesses. Please don’t see the clutter and chaos behind the mask. Please pretend that I’m not a disaster and give me the grace to return to my hiding place in one piece.”

But guess what? Nobody sees your clutter and chaos with such absolute clarity as Jesus. He can not only see the evidence of your imperfections… He can see your heart and all the things you try so hard to hide away. And yet, He still runs to you and says, “My child, I love you. You are beautiful. You are mine. I choose you.”

So, it’s time. We are being called to stop hiding behind the veil and allow our imperfections and our vulnerabilities to become our life-giving message of God’s hope and love.

I don’t know about you, but my heart does not find rest and allow healing to begin with a friend that speaks from the pulpit of perfection. No, to the contrary… My heart has allowed life-giving hope to reach my deepest cracks and crevices from the friend that said, “I’ve been there. I’m not perfect. And I struggle too. Sometimes, I definitely fall flat on my face. But, here is what God has been teaching me.” (I love you friend. You know who you are.)

And with that message, and God’s nudge, the torch has been passed to me. I have the same power through Him to share my journey and touch others, but it requires one vitally important commitment: I cannot fully embrace His calling on my heart unless I am willing to be imperfect…. made perfect by His love.

Will some use the opportunity to mock, gossip, and hurt me? Of course… but the enemy doesn’t stand a chance at breaking me when Jesus is the One that holds me. And the beautiful blessings and promises that come from walking in the path laid before me by my Heavenly Father will deem the enemy’s attacks simply futile.

So with a calling on our hearts and a commitment to the One who loves us so much that He holds us through the valleys, cries with us in the storms, and lifts us up to find peace and hope in His promises again, let’s use our life to be His message.

Let’s drop the protective veil of perfection and allow life-giving love, His love, to pour through our story as we share it with others.

And let’s be a witness to His power as He uses us to bless and lift another.

Blessings, friends. Jesus loves you.

Your friend in this journey,

Shannon