The place that we are in is so beautiful. Lake Atitlan is amazing. We had a chance to meet a group of guys and girls down here who are from all over the world doing some amazing video work. The Lord spoke something really cool into my heart in the middle of a conversation with one of them.
They had been hiking up to the waterfall off of one of the mountains here. The waterfall looks beautiful. I only had a chance to snap a quick picture of it as we were driving in. So these guys walked past us while we were having a team meeting and they were telling us about their huge disappointment in the waterfall. Apparently it was filled with garbage, filth, and all kinds of crap. They said it was disgusting. There is a village up at the top mountain and this had become their dump. Heart breaking that something that looks so majestic from a distance, once you walk through the shield of trees and cliffs, is really something that is gross and worthless.
I think the same could be said for many of us. Many (myself included) love to have things in place in our lives whether that be money, social networks, humor, relationships or whatever so that when people look our way, they see this majestic thing of beauty. Yet if we ever peal back the shields we try to protect ourselves with, it would reveal a lot of junk, brokenness, and filth. We are like this waterfall. And we can all day long try to put up more trees and cliffs and keep people at a distance so that we continue to give the appearance of something majestic.
But the truth is that we are still broken and the only way to become something truly beautiful is to bring our junk into the light and let people past the tree line and start cleaning up the junk from the inside out. A waterfall with polluted water will bring life to nothing. It is only when the pollution is clean that the waterfall will truly bring life to everything around it and in our lives it is only when we deal with our issues, struggles, and brokenness that we are able to shine the light of the hope of the Gospel even brighter. Sure it is
Painful.
Annoying.
Frustrating.
Revealing.
And yet
Healing
Life Giving
Transforming
Brings Freedom
It is ok to admit that we are broken because the truth is that we are.
But it is only when we deal with our brokenness that we find freedom and are able to embrace all that the Lord wants of our lives.
for God
for People
for the Nations
for the Kingdom
