shadow

Rita Reid

Hiding in Plain Sight

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“Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.” 

Hebrews 4:13, NLT

White_Bird_in_Tree“Where?” I asked. “What bird? I don’t see any bird? Stop playing with me little girl!

“It’s right there, Mommy! Really! I’m not kidding, it’s right in front of you! Daddy sees it, right, Daddy?”

“Look right in the center of that tree, Ri”, my hubby said.

“Oh, I see it now”, I said! Sure enough, right in front of my face, sat a white bird, in the middle of a tree! I’d looked at that tree earlier and didn’t even see the bird sitting there, nearly camouflaged. I’d looked right past it even though it was hiding in plain sight. Seeing or not seeing that bird in the tree wouldn’t make a significant difference in my life or anyone else’s. But, what do we look past that can make a difference in a life?

Sometimes we look past our shortcomings; after all, it is easier to deny them or refuse to address them altogether, than to face them. I struggled for years to come to a place of real forgiveness towards someone that I’d decided did me wrong. I didn’t want to forgive this person at all. In my view, all about the situation that promoted my refusal to forgive was laid squarely at their feet. They did everything wrong and I did everything right. So, why should I forgive them? I looked right past any evidence of my lack of character. I couldn’t see it at all, because it was their fault entirely! Although I tried to camouflage my resentment through self-justification, it was hiding in plain sight (with every reference to this person and the situation) through my lack of forgiveness.

Today, I’ve forgiven the person and repented of my wrongdoing but I’m left to wonder how much my life or the life of that person would have been different had I let go of my resentment and chosen to forgive them earlier.

We might get resentful and toughen our hearts to the reality about ourselves but the Word of God is powerful enough to cut through our innermost denial. God sees everything about us, including those things we attempt to hide from ourselves. When we trust in him and follow his Word, he exposes our hidden things so we can change and grow more like him.

How different our lives would be if we saw, confessed, and corrected our shortcomings, instead of allowing them to hide in plain sight.

By grace through faith,

Rita

Hidden Motives

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“So you can see we were not preaching with any deceit or impure motives or trickery. For we speak as messengers approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News. Our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts.” 

1 Thessalonians 2:3-4, NLT

Hidden_Agenda_Pic“I invited five ladies to our Bible group, this month. I got them all saved, had them join the church, and even got them to sign-up for donations to our new Reach-a-Sister-Fund! I’m pretty sure I’ll be moved up to group leader and featured in the church bulletin soon! Go God!”

“We need to pray about all those sad, poor people I visited on our recent missions trip! Honestly, having to live like that! They are so blessed that we could come to them! How else would they know the love of Christ, without us? We’re all they have to hold onto, you know! Bless their little hearts! God is good!”

“Ladies, we want to thank our sister for inviting three new ladies to our Bible study group, and encourage them each to keep coming back! Let’s all give God the praise and our sister a round of applause!”

Which scenario reminds you of godly women carrying the Good News to others with pure motives? I hope it wasn’t the first two!

Sometimes, the people we attempt to reach with the Gospel message suspect our motives. They’ve literally and figuratively shut doors in my face and the faces of countless number of Christians, believing our motives to be those of Sister Self-Promoting and Sister Self-Righteous, above!

The truth is we really can have hidden motives when we reach out to others in sharing the message of Jesus Christ. When we place importance upon anything (how many; people we’ve impressed with our “sainthood”, people “we’ve gotten saved”, people we’ve invited to church, or financial pledges we’ve secured) above our genuine compassion and love for unsaved people, we are operating out of hidden motives.

Each time we profess to have saved someone, we misrepresent the power of God, whose message we claim to spread! We don’t have the power to save anybody; only God does.

“For no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me, and at the last day I will raise them up.” (John 6:44)

Before we connect with others, let’s examine our motives, and ask God, the Holy Spirit, who guides us, to empower us to make the necessary corrections that will keep our motives godly.

To effectively reach others with the Good News, we must share it from godly, loving, open motives, rather than from loveless, hidden ones.  This pleases God.

By grace through faith,

Rita

It All Builds Up

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“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.” 

Galatians 6:7, NLT

lint_filterI was sitting with a group of friends when one of them asked about the similarity between lint in a lint filter and sin. On the face of it, this sounded to me like one of those “what the heck?” type of questions! I mean, where did that idea come from? But, I paused and thought, “Well, is there any similarity”? So, we tossed around our thoughts on the matter. The question for me became, what, if anything, does lint in filters and unchecked sin have in common? I considered what happens with lint when I dry the laundry in a dryer. Then, I considered what happens with what we commonly term insignificant or little sins, as opposed to those considered big ones.  I was surprised by what I discovered!

Whenever I checked the lint filter and there was just a little bit of lint on it, I tended to let it go because I didn’t see it as enough lint to bother cleaning off. When I checked the filter and the lint had accumulated significantly, I tended to it right away, because, by that time, it threatened a clogged filter and an inability for the dryer to effectively dry the clothes. It was actually harder to clean off the faint dusting of lint than a greater accumulation! The full filter of lint rolled right out so much easier. But, proper maintenance on the filter with little lint would have prevented further build up and subsequent consequences!

sinsI experienced a time in my life when I let my so-called little sins progress unchecked to the point that they multiplied and became glaringly obvious to everyone around me. I could no longer hide them! I was left wondering, “How’d they get so big so quickly?” Truth is, it wasn’t an overnight growth, and I was compelled to address it. By that time, I was willing to confess everything and check those sins at the throne of God’s forgiveness! It cost me too, as some of those consequences continue today. It’s my reminder of the truth that we’d reap what we’ve sown.

Based on my friend’s question, I concluded that there is indeed a similarity between lint in lint filters and sin; left unchecked, it all builds up. Once built up, it must be addressed. So wouldn’t we want to address it before it builds up, and reap rewards instead of consequences?

By grace through faith,

Rita