Cover of the Rolling Stones

Last week, I fell victim to a virus so intense; I was convinced I had unknowingly licked the floor of the hospital numerous times. The symptoms of my virus only lasted 3 days but the aftermath remained throughout the week.  I had quite a week friends and fortunately for you, my extra time spent in bed refreshed my brain (and my beaten body) but unfortunately my extra time away from my computer left my brain jumbled up inside. God understands my jumbled brain best (Actually, God is the only one who understands my brain at all) so he found it appropriate to end my week with extra time in Him. Saturday night, I went to a concert and heard three awesome Christian artists but more importantly God spent Saturday night putting an end to the aftermath of my week. (The car ride home began a new aftermath)  God renewed my physical strength days before the concert but I still felt like a stranger walking around in my own body. My sleep schedule was still slightly off causing me to spend my mornings in a sleepy fog opposed to spending them jamming out to my IPOD. My evenings were filled with all of the responsibilities that I had put aside as I was desperately trying to nurse myself back to health with a cocktail of medicines and hours of sleep. And my days were spent wishing I was in my PJ’s eating ice cream and drinking hot tea. But Saturday night as I worshiped my King, I felt my joy return to my heart. And not the joy of finally being free from those bubbling bacteria that were happily enjoying my body; but the joy of knowing that who I am in Christ doesn’t change.  

I may have felt like a stranger in my own body but I wasn’t a stranger at all. I wasn’t a stranger to Christ because when He looks at me; he knows who I am. He knows that regardless of my outward circumstances and my physical drains; I will praise Him first, seek Him second, and then obey Him with all of the love in my heart. I may have bad days and I may have weeks where I physically, emotionally, and mentally feel like a completely different person but I never want to change who I am in Christ. I don’t want reorganize my life to fit my circumstances and I don’t want to paint a pretty picture for others to see. I live my life as if it were the feature picture in a magazine and the main reader was Jesus. I don’t spend my time worrying about the details, the finishing touches, or the decorations. I spend my time worrying about the room holding all of the beautiful contents. If my room is ridiculously ugly then no one will pay a single bit of attention to what’s inside. If I spend my life constantly changing who I am in Christ based on day to day situations then I am taking away from all of His meticulous attention to detail in my life. When Jesus picks up the magazine of my life; I want Him to  take delight in the fact that I spent my days waxing the floors of my heart, wiping away the dirt of my flesh, and polishing my hands and feet to reflect His image. I want Him to notice that every detail of my life and every decoration were hand-picked by Him. I want Him to show His other children my magazine spread and say, “She gave me the best room to display my works in.” We all represent rooms in Christ’s mansion and we are on display at all times, not only to Him but to others in our lives. Are you constantly rearranging your room to showcase your pride and fame? Or are you shoving sin and disobedience under rugs in hopes of hiding it from others? Don’t paint pictures of who you hope to be and plaster them all over the walls of your life. Find yourself in Christ and display that image every day. And when you do expect to be on the cover of His feature magazine and expect to be passed through the hands of many readers who will look beyond your decorations because the room that belongs to Christ is much more beautiful.

Last week, I suffered more physically than I had in a long time. (probably since the days of rice soup and ensure) But today as I was asked to eat doughnuts with my 79 year old patient because his family was convinced all he needed to thrive was my hug and smile; I knew that I hadn’t changed at all. I knew that in between my chills and headaches; I found time to keep my room beautiful, allowing Jesus to use me (my love for doughnuts) as part of His decoration plan.

Verse to remember: Isaiah 49:3-5

3 He said to me, “You are my servant,
   Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.”
⁴ But I said, “I have labored in vain;
   I have spent my strength for nothing at all.
Yet what is due me is in the LORD’s hand,
   and my reward is with my God.”

⁵ And now the LORD says:
   he who formed me in the womb to be his servant
to bring Jacob back to him
   and gather Israel to himself,
for I am   onored in the eyes of the LORD
   and my God has been my strength.