In Cyprus I decided that it was finally time to get some tattoos that I had been wanting for a long time, a few years actually. Prior to getting these tattoos, I only had one tattoo and it’s small, it’s a cross on my ring finger. So going into these tattoos, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. These tattoos are much bigger than the one on my finger and I wasn’t aware of the process of healing these tattoos would take me through.
In that process, God spoke to me and revealed some things that I won’t forget.
**Side note – isn’t it so cool how God uses things that we never would think of Him using, like tattoos, to speak or reveal some truth?
He spoke to me about the process through these tattoos. These tattoos looked incredible on the day I got them. They were fresh and according to my tattoo artist “my skin holds ink very well”. So I was feeling so good and my head was getting bigger and bigger by the minute, only to go back to its normal size, if not smaller, the next day. Theses tattoos began the healing process right away, by looking terrible. They were peeling and looked extremely dry, because I couldn’t put lotion on them for a while. All I could do to them was clean them with soap and water, which only made them look even more dry, which caused even more peeling. I found myself growing frustrated and confused as to why these were looking so bad. I just wanted to do something that had been on my heart for a while , why does it have to be this way?
What happened to the beautiful tattoos I just had done?
Sometimes the work that God is doing in us is a process. It may start off so good but more times than not, it gets ugly. At least for me that’s how it usually goes. Once I’m aware that God is doing something with me, I get so excited. I feel so good and so proud of the fact that God is still working on me. My confidence explodes through the roof and nothing can bring me down. But once he starts doing things that I don’t like or things that make me feel uncomfortable, I shut down. My confidence is replaced with doubts and lies. I start to peel and feel dry, in need of lotion, but only getting soap and water to be cleaned.
When that’s all I need during the process.
Yes, the process is usually ugly. The process is usually messy. But it’s always worth it. Sure, I could avoid it, run from it, shy away from it, hide from it, but what would I get from that? If I decided not to listen to my tattoo artist and treat my tattoos how I felt they needed to be, what would have happened? They wouldn’t look as good as they do right now. I always seem to think I know what I need, when in reality God knows what I need, best, and knows when I need it.
I think that in the process, I lose sight of the fact that God is working on me and that’s why things seem the way they are. The realization of that fades away as my mind shifts its focus onto the ugly stages of the process. I get so excited about Him starting a new work in me, find myself often discouraged or frustrated In the middle of it, and then end up rejoicing at what he has done. This reminds me of when Jesus was warning His disciples, in John 16, about what was to come after He left. He says to them in verse 16:
“Soon you won’t see me any longer, but then, after a little while, you will see me in a new way.”
I believe this holds true for the process, at least for me. It’s hard to see Him during it, sometimes, but once that process ends, I begin to see Him in a new way. That’s growth. He then goes on to explain this, by painting an image, to His disciples because they didn’t understand what He meant by this in verse 21:
“Just like a woman giving birth experiences intense labor pains in delivering her baby, yet after the child is born she quickly forgets what she went through because of the overwhelming joy of knowing that a new baby has been born into the world.”
Any process is tough, just like the process of pregnancy. In this process we become so aware of something beautiful that God wants to do with us. Then we lose sight during the process because it’s not enjoyable or it’s not what we feel we need. Then, God reveals His work as one of the most beautiful pieces. That’s the crazy thing about the process. God takes something that is already beautiful, makes it ugly and messy (in my eyes), and brings it out to be even more beautiful than what it started out as.
The process is truly a beautiful thing, no matter how ugly it gets, and I’m thankful that God is still taking me through them.
(God is Greater Than The Highs & Lows)
(“Emmanuel” in Hebrew)
(What does this mean to you?)
(One happy customer!!)
