There are so many spiritual applications here. If you're not real, you'll fray. If you fray, God will have to apply some "hot glue" to your life. Even after all that, He may need to rip your heart open and expose even more, but when He is finished, you will be better than when you started, and you will be real, because He fixed you. I think I'd rather just be real from the beginning, but seriously, how many of us start out being real? It's hard to be real, I mean really real, when you know people are watching (or reading). They don't want to see real, they want to see happy. Can't I just be fake happy? When a friend talks bad about something I've done behind my back, fake happy just ignores the friend for a while. How easy is that? It's hard to be happy for real. It means acknowledging that what I did couldn't have been to please man. If I did my work to please God, and I did my best, that's all that can matter. It has to be okay that some of my friends don't like it. (And eventually, it was.) The end result, however, is that fake happy wears out, and all that's left is real ugly. Or real sad. Or real ugly and sad. Real happy, though, that lasts. I'm glad I'm finally learning how to be real happy, and not just put on a fake happy mask.
I bought this bag in Panama. Not a traditional Panamanian bag, it's probably even made in China or something. But it says Panama, and none of the "real" bags said Panama on them. Another in our group bought a bag just like mine (hers had the country of Panama instead of butterflies). When we got to our hostal that night, her straps had started coming out. By the time I got home with it to fix it for her, 3 of the 4 ends were frayed and had come out of the bag completely. Upon closer examination, I realized that whoever made the bag hadn't burned the edges of the straps to prevent fraying. I opened holes where the straps were going to go. My curious son looked at the newly ripped holes and asked me, oh so innocently, why I had to make the bag worse before I could make it better. Without ripping holes in the bag, I would never be able to make it look like new again. You would think, the bag has been through so much already, having three straps' ends shredded and out of place. Why would I make it even worse? But then, I fixed it, and you would never know just by looking at the bag that there had ever been a problem.
There are so many spiritual applications here. If you're not real, you'll fray. If you fray, God will have to apply some "hot glue" to your life. Even after all that, He may need to rip your heart open and expose even more, but when He is finished, you will be better than when you started, and you will be real, because He fixed you. I think I'd rather just be real from the beginning, but seriously, how many of us start out being real? It's hard to be real, I mean really real, when you know people are watching (or reading). They don't want to see real, they want to see happy. Can't I just be fake happy? When a friend talks bad about something I've done behind my back, fake happy just ignores the friend for a while. How easy is that? It's hard to be happy for real. It means acknowledging that what I did couldn't have been to please man. If I did my work to please God, and I did my best, that's all that can matter. It has to be okay that some of my friends don't like it. (And eventually, it was.) The end result, however, is that fake happy wears out, and all that's left is real ugly. Or real sad. Or real ugly and sad. Real happy, though, that lasts. I'm glad I'm finally learning how to be real happy, and not just put on a fake happy mask.
2 Comments
your friend
11/19/2012 02:59:47 pm
Wow! what a great spiritual application. (with your permission I would like to borrow it) I didn't realize, until I read your blog, how alike we are. The difference is that I just "write" it in my head, and you actually take the time to write it down for others to read. Enjoyed It!
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Jess
11/20/2012 09:28:19 am
of course you can borrow it! I always knew we were similar. :-) A lot of what I write, I don't know how it will turn out, like I'm struggling with how I feel about something, and when I write about it, something about seeing the words written out makes it so much easier for me to know what I think. You should try it sometime, when you have some free time. :-)
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In 2006 I had a stroke, and every day my husband encourages me to use my remaining brain cells to the best of my ability. I love to organize, make crafts, and go on adventures (safe ones). I hope that through my blog posts, you will be encouraged to accept and make the best of challenges God throws at your life. Categories
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