2006-01-20 - Naked Eyelashes

When God created me as a Blonde, He went all the way, all the way down to my very Blonde eyelashes. I am grateful for their uniqueness, but my eyes seem to "disappear" beneath them, so I don't ever face the world without mascara. Only twice in 30 years have I made an exception. The first time, I had no choice; the anesthesiolgist of my surgery informed me that mascara was potentially flammable, and thus verboten. The other time, my best friend was coming to visit. I just got a little crazy and decided to be my total self with her that day. She's the first person outside my family who has seen me without mascara. I realized that day, how much I trust her, how vulnerable and safe I feel with her, to allow her to see me that way.

At this point, you are probably wondering why I'm sharing more than you ever wanted to know about Jan's makeup habits. But bear with me; this is leading to a point. We all need to find friends with whom we can have naked eyelashes, friends with whom we can feel safe being vulnerable. Otherwise, we won't know what true friendship is, nor will we grow spiritually as we should. For if we are not our true selves with our friends, if we always wear masks, then our friends can't help us discern what's wrong in our lives. A real friend will speak the truth in love, even if it's not what we want to hear.

Proverbs 27:6a (ASV) Faithful are the wounds of a friend.

But even more importantly, we need to have naked eyelashes with God. If we aren't totally vulnerable with Him, totally surrendered, we can't be "the best we can be" (to quote the Army slogan) for God. And when you think about it, it's illogical to not be totally honest and open with Him, for He already knows everything we are thinking and doing anyway.

If we open up our lives and hearts to Him, God will work on us. He may not provide what we want initially, but what He gives will ultimately be more satisfying and rewarding than anything we could have asked for.

Comments or Questions?
Jan

Rijan@aol.com
http://www.cfdevotionals.org