Transparent

January 17, 2020

Clear, without obstruction, permeable, frank.

These are not words usually associated with humans because we are anything but the sort. We deflect, conceal, confuse, sometimes repulse. We push down our regrets, bury ourselves in guilt, and carry shame around our necks like a noose so transparency gets choked out. Truth—the good, the bad, the ugly—too complicated to reveal. Not because we don’t want to…no, because what it allows: a front row, all access pass to see the show that is our lives.

That may seem melodramatic, even a bit depressing, but think about it for a moment. When is the last time you willingly shared a no hold barred conversation with someone? Have you ever? Would you even be able to? Allow someone to intimately know the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? All of you—raw and unfiltered. And then make eye contact with that person again?

While we all want to be known, we don’t want to pay the price of transparency. It is non-refundable. It is expensive. It is painful…or so we believe.

What if I told you you were already there, paid in full, pain-free, and proclaimed very good in full transparency? How would your life be altered? Where would put your regret, guilt, and shame? Would you box and keep it, just in case this new “transparency thing” wasn’t all it’s cracked up to be? If you were fully known, and still unconditionally loved, there wouldn’t be a reason to hang on to those cords any longer. Your bondage would be severed, and you would be free.

El Roi, the God who sees.

El Shaddai, God Almighty.

Emmanuel, God with us.

This is who transparently sees every thought, every move, every breath we take. And out of His great love for us, He gives us this gift called life along with opportunity to choose how we navigate it. Like Adam and Eve, we sin, yet through His generosity, we still see the light of the next day. We are surrounded by a multitude of His creations, meant for good. He is completely transparent in how much He loves us. Why do we find it so difficult to operate in this manner? In love, transparency, generosity?

We’ll talk more about this soon…until then, please meditate on this scripture.

“Nothing in all the world can be hidden from God. Everything is clear and lies open before him. And to him we must explain the way we have lived” (Hebrews 4:13 ICB).