Be You

Be You

As a continuation of yesterday’s devotional, I’ll pick up with the conversation that I was having with my wife after work.  As I was telling her about the desires I had in my heart and about what my future might hold, she said very simply, “why don’t you talk to God about it?”  She said it abruptly and yet so seriously.  It caught me off guard for some reason and I just sat there thinking that may be the best idea I’ve ever heard.  It’s funny how we can “know” that it seems so obvious to talk to God about the desires in our heart and what our future holds, yet so many times we don’t bring it up at all because we somehow think we’re being ungrateful for where we’re at or those dreams we have are just fun to think about but not something that would ever actually happen. 

“Talk to God about it,” she said.  “That’s a smart idea, I should do that,” I replied.  I remembered not too long ago thinking about and maybe even teaching about how we should approach God as simple and as real as we approach our friends.  With honor for sure, but nothing sugarcoated or dressed up.  God’s not into a production of any kind if it takes away from you coming as you are.  He says as much in Matthew 6:6 in The Message:

Here’s what I want you to do:  Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God.  Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage.  The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense His grace.

I love the last part of this verse.  When you’re open and honest before God and just being yourself with Him, the focus will shift from you to Him and you’ll sense and receive the very thing you need…His grace!  I’ll leave you with something my wife shared with me from Kenneth Copeland, not long after she told me to talk to God about it.

One simple thing that will help you get a greater revelation of God’s love for you is to get real with Him. If you’re using Elizabethan English when you talk to Him (and you’re not an Elizabethan Englishman), stop it. Speak to Him exactly like you would to anyone else you loved and respected. Be honest. Be open. And be yourself.