Me: You look like you have two faces.
Prodigal: Maybe I do.
Two faces. What am I talking about? Our face that shows the spiritual and, our face that shows the flesh. We all have them.
Mine showed itself the other day. I love doing God’s work and enjoy seeing how He will show up during the day. Maybe it will be a perfect verse at the right time. Or a song that plays, and the voice I hear singing makes me smile. It could be just one sentence spoken by an acquaintance or, a chapter in a book. My day has a ton of ways the Lord can show Himself. That means each day is a gift from God and, something to look forward too.
This day, the face of the flesh showed up. I was not focused on God’s joy but wanted to go to Hawaii for a three week vacation and, just not show up for work. Was there a specific reason why? No.
I just put on the face of the flesh. I imagined that Hawaii on a beach was perfect with the waves and, the smell of the salt air. Being with God, doing His work or, watching His work meant nothing.
The face of the flesh remained. The face of the flesh was starting to increase. This face is a tricky one. See it seems that it will fit perfect. It appears to lure you into thinking that wearing this face will not matter but, truth is that people can see this face at times. People will notice that it does not look good on you. You are different and it is not a pleasant change.
I looked into the mirror briefly. You know this face of the flesh really didn’t sit well with me. I really didn’t like it. I could see the flaws. Wasn’t this suppose to bring me happiness? I thought this was going to make everything right. Maybe the other face is not so bad.
By God’s grace, He nudged me to pick up the face of the Spirit. He nudged me to forget Hawaii. You know there are people on the beach right now with no joy or peace. They are empty inside. Hawaii does not bring me joy. No it is just a distraction. It is distracting me from the Lord.
I look in the mirror again. This time I switched to the face of the spirit. This one seems to fit better. Somehow I don’t have burdens that seemed to be there before. I don’t envy or try to escape. I can just be. I take a breath and look up and into the mirror. Wait, I think I see something, is there light I see somehow? It’s amazing what a change of face will do.
Psalm 31:24
Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the LORD
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
