Clothed in righteousness

Last night I went for a walk in a park with my friend Patti. On our walk, we came to a dam with one of the gates open. Patti knew in the moment that there would be a message in it for me and that it would be posted on my blog today...she was right.

She and I had talked about the stillness of the larger body of water that filtered into this small space to be released down into a narrower body of water that was very stirred up and flowed with greater strength.

Today I'm listening to Travis Cottrell's song, "Search Me, Know Me." The chorus says,
Create in me a heart that's clean
Conquer the power of secret shame
Come wash away the guilty stain of all my sin
Clothe me in robes of righteousness
Cover my nakedness with grace
All of my life before you now I humbly bring.

Oftentimes, our lives can move along smoothly and with little disruption, and we may even look pretty good. We, as believers and followers of Christ, because we have God's spirit, long for a heart that's truly clean.

What happens when the world presses in on us, or possibly God presses in on us, and moves us from our comfortable, free space into a channel of disruption? It feels chaotic, out of control, frustrating, scary and painful. We no longer look in the mirror and see the carefree, undisturbed calm that existed "pre-dam" experience. Suddenly we've become a disrupted pile of nerves that has just crashed painfully against rocks creating a foamy discord, a fishy odor and casting a certain mist that is certainly not appealing.

So what's the point to all this?

As God guides and protects our way over the disruptiveness, it exposes who we really are. It exposes, as the song reveals, "our secret shame, our sin, our nakedness" that we covered so well in the places of little disruption.

But here, where we're exposed...this is how God so amazingly and wonderfully responds:

He conquers ...through his own death and resurrection
He clothes us ...He gets the most beautiful clothing and puts it on us
He covers us in grace ...the clothing He chooses for us announces the message...
"RIGHTEOUS!"

Isaiah 61.10 (Amp)
"I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul will exult in my God; for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels."