Enter: a beautiful woman with a radiant smile and caring spirit. From the outside she appears joyful with an easygoing nature and lighthearted demeanor. On the inside though, she is a storm. At all times the whipping wind is howling a tune that says "you are not good enough, you are a failure." She believes these things to be true and every perceived failure to measure up only drives the lies deeper within her being. She wears a joker-like smile as she works herself ragged helping, trying, doing, until those lies are finally disproved. Though she tries, it seems she can never work herself out of fear and failure and into grace and love.
Enter: a man with a spirit like a sweet breeze, surrounded by a river of white. His touch is healing, his words are the soul's food. He meets the beautiful woman, but he does not see her outer beauty he sees the beauty within. She is his daughter. As they embrace, the lies living in her find a new home, in him. He does not believe these lies for he knows whose he is, but he wrestles with them as they fight to go back to their original home.
Though they no longer live inside her, the lies still whisper to the woman calling her back to the comfortable blackness in which she once lived. She knows she cannot fight the whispers alone so she cries out to him and feels him calling her heart to the mountaintop. The lies follow as she treks to the cliff upon which her savior is waiting. When she arrives the lies attack from all angles and she is overwhelmed, about to give in. Then, there is a different whisper one that is gentle and kind saying "Why have you come here, my daughter?" She falls to her knees and replies "My Lord, save me from these lies. They are crippling me and I do not know what is true. Show me the Truth." He smiles and says, "These lies are no longer yours to fight, give them to me, I will fight for you. They are a part you your old but you are now new." Through the tears she asks, "What is old and what is new? and what do I do to live in the new?" He laughs and says "My daughter, not everything is achieved by doing, in fact most is achieved by resting and giving up. When you hear the lies whisper to you, run to me and surrender them at my feet. Though you may still struggle with the old, it does not define you, I define you. I am joy, love, forgiveness, redemption, beauty, freedom, acceptance, righteousness, strength, courage, peace, fearlessness. I am enough, enough to disprove the lies, enough to love you, enough to redeem you, enough to forgive you, enough to make you new, enough." She is broken, a sweet and solemn brokenness.
2 years later: the woman is walking through a garden with his spirit. This garden is abundant, full of color, and beautiful, but there lies a gaping hole in the middle of the garden. The woman asks the spirit, "Where did this awful hole come from?" The spirit replies, "This garden is your soul. This black hole is where your perfectionism used to live, we are here to fill this hole." The whole garden then seems to reply through the dance of color. A wind sweeps through and every flower brightens, screaming with joy and excitement. As they get to work on the garden, the woman begins to feel different. Before, she knew the truth, but now it has real meaning. Just as she feels this change a tree grows out of the now filled hole. She is whole.
Lord, help us. We are a broken people, save us from the lies that whisper. Lead us to your feet, where the Truth is abundant and lies do not exist. Forgive our disbelief and make us whole.
**The Scripture base (a long with prayer) for this allegory came out of 1 Kings 19:11-14, Hosea 2, Psalm 34:5, and most of Romans. Along with scripture the 2 years later part is also based off of a scene in "The Shack" (a really good book) written by, William Paul Young.
Enter: a man with a spirit like a sweet breeze, surrounded by a river of white. His touch is healing, his words are the soul's food. He meets the beautiful woman, but he does not see her outer beauty he sees the beauty within. She is his daughter. As they embrace, the lies living in her find a new home, in him. He does not believe these lies for he knows whose he is, but he wrestles with them as they fight to go back to their original home.
Though they no longer live inside her, the lies still whisper to the woman calling her back to the comfortable blackness in which she once lived. She knows she cannot fight the whispers alone so she cries out to him and feels him calling her heart to the mountaintop. The lies follow as she treks to the cliff upon which her savior is waiting. When she arrives the lies attack from all angles and she is overwhelmed, about to give in. Then, there is a different whisper one that is gentle and kind saying "Why have you come here, my daughter?" She falls to her knees and replies "My Lord, save me from these lies. They are crippling me and I do not know what is true. Show me the Truth." He smiles and says, "These lies are no longer yours to fight, give them to me, I will fight for you. They are a part you your old but you are now new." Through the tears she asks, "What is old and what is new? and what do I do to live in the new?" He laughs and says "My daughter, not everything is achieved by doing, in fact most is achieved by resting and giving up. When you hear the lies whisper to you, run to me and surrender them at my feet. Though you may still struggle with the old, it does not define you, I define you. I am joy, love, forgiveness, redemption, beauty, freedom, acceptance, righteousness, strength, courage, peace, fearlessness. I am enough, enough to disprove the lies, enough to love you, enough to redeem you, enough to forgive you, enough to make you new, enough." She is broken, a sweet and solemn brokenness.
2 years later: the woman is walking through a garden with his spirit. This garden is abundant, full of color, and beautiful, but there lies a gaping hole in the middle of the garden. The woman asks the spirit, "Where did this awful hole come from?" The spirit replies, "This garden is your soul. This black hole is where your perfectionism used to live, we are here to fill this hole." The whole garden then seems to reply through the dance of color. A wind sweeps through and every flower brightens, screaming with joy and excitement. As they get to work on the garden, the woman begins to feel different. Before, she knew the truth, but now it has real meaning. Just as she feels this change a tree grows out of the now filled hole. She is whole.
Lord, help us. We are a broken people, save us from the lies that whisper. Lead us to your feet, where the Truth is abundant and lies do not exist. Forgive our disbelief and make us whole.
**The Scripture base (a long with prayer) for this allegory came out of 1 Kings 19:11-14, Hosea 2, Psalm 34:5, and most of Romans. Along with scripture the 2 years later part is also based off of a scene in "The Shack" (a really good book) written by, William Paul Young.