Behind Closed Doors: Who Are You?

Do you pour a little something on the rocks?
Slide down the hallway in your socks?
When you undress, do you leave a path?
Then sink to your nose in a bubble bath?

My oh my, you're so good-looking
Hold yourself together like a pair of bookends
But I've not tasted all your cooking
Who are you when I'm not looking?

I wanna know
I wanna know
I wanna know

Do you break things when you get mad?
Eat a box of chocolates 'cause you're feelin' bad?
Do you paint your toes 'cause you bite your nails?
Call up momma when all else fails?

Who are you when I'm not around?
When the door is locked and the shades are down?
Do you listen to your music quietly?
And when it feels just right, are you thinkin' of me?

(song by Blake Shelton)

Who Are We? 

Who are we when we are all alone behind closed doors, (when only God is looking) or just spending time with our family, etc? 

God sees who we are

We can't compartmentalize our life into neat, organized sections where God is only present in certain areas and then wonder why we don't have peace. 

We can remember that God wants to be involved in every detail and aspect of our life! He wants to be involved in our career, our schooling, our studies, our dreams and goals, our dating, our relationships, our marriage, our parenting and more! He wants us to reach out in the tough times and the seasons we sail through without a glitch. We don't have to limit what areas God is involved in nor do we have to wonder if we should ask Him about this or that... the answer is unequivocally "Yes!" 

God Sees Everything... 

God sees how we interact with our children... how much time we make for them, how much we are on our cell phones and "Hmm" at our children because we are too digitally distracted by a gadget. When He convicts us of this distracted behavior or spending more time cleaning the house, watching tv, shopping or surfing the web than spending time with our loved ones we need to move into a new (better) direction with that nudge of conviction. 

What God Is Not Doing... 

God is not condemning us but teaching us, bringing awareness to our situation so as to bring accountability. Awareness brings accountability which brings the knowledge that there is a need to change. Our children, our spouses and our life suffers when we don't take action upon conviction from God. When we are moved to change and ask God for help with changing, great things can happen which has a domino effect on others. 

God sees how we spend time alone and whether it includes time spent with Him. He sees whether we are greedy with our time in general and with Him. He is jealous for us. He sees when we don't make time for our spouse and make work an idol, when we don't date our spouse and make them a priority after Him... when we don't take the time to invest in the person we've made a covenant with, to make genuine love to them and take the time to communicate with them on a deeper level rather than the superficiality of many relationships. 

Self Reflection...

How are we spending our time? Are we willing to acknowledge God in all areas of our life instead of just the convenient times like church and prayer at dinner? Are we open to His taking the lead and also His correction? How open are we to surrendering to Him? Or are we gripping on with tight control? Are we walking in pride because we have everything "taken care of" in regards to certain sections of our life like our career, marriage, etc? What areas do we believe are superiorly "fixed" and fine?

God Gives... 

God wants us to relinquish all areas of our life to Him... we often don't want to rely on Him or wish to wait, so we get grumpily discouraged like a kid who has to wait for a Popsicle at the end of a run. We tend to want everything yesterday... (insert a 3 year old's stomp and bottom lip stuck out) hence the fleshly desire for instant gratification... but this isn't pudding in a box, it's God's timing and work in us.... in His time which is often much slower than ours... albeit sometimes gratingly slow in our minds. But that's okay.... because God is faithful, slow and steady, unfailing, honest and good... even when we aren't behind closed doors, our sin seeming so cringe worthy under our microscope of self examination filled with misguided shame, regret and defeat. 

The next time we are alone painting our toes... in a bubble bath, reading a book... driving along the freeway... we can take a few minutes. A few minutes to spend with God knowing that this time spent with Him is nourishing and essential like the air we breathe, the water we drink and the bread we eat. 

The next time we are with our kids and they say "Daddy, Mommy... Look!" on the slide at the park, or making a silly face, showing off their latest Picasso masterpiece, dunking a basketball... we can drop the "Hmmm's", ditch our phone, step away from the computer and  engage with them thus honoring God and the children He gave us in a time so fleeting it disappears in the blink of an eye.

The next time our spouse gives us a disappointed look when we've been on the phone all evening with work as they idly pick at their dinner, or lay beside us quiet and sad as we tap away at our laptop, or alternatively as we resignedly sigh "never mind... it's not important" as they rush off to another "important" business dinner, meeting or flight... we can all choose to act upon feeling convicted by patterns beginning to set in. These "small signs" are not just signs... they are red warning flags that if the detached behavior continues deeper damage will be done which grieves God... He wants a meaningful, close connection for you and your spouse not one of detachment and separation. 

Path Of Progress... 

We can ask God to convict us, to surrender to Him, to ask Him to lead, promising to follow and although we will certainly have set backs on the path of progress we can live victoriously... 

knowing that God sees who we are 

and thankfully He loves us more 

than anyone ever will! 

© gps-gracepowerstrength.blogspot.com ~ 2013

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