Remove that lid

No man for any considerable period can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true. (Nathaniel Hawthorne)

Scripture reminds us 'honesty lives confident and carefree', while 'shifty is sure to be exposed'. (Proverbs 10:9) There are lots and lots of us who go through life 'wearing one face' at home and another out in public. Sometimes we don't always know we are doing it, but we find ourselves acting as though life is perfect when deep down in side we are crumbling to pieces. We cannot 'act' before God - he sees behind the scenes and knows when there is nothing more than a cleverly prepared backdrop being portrayed!

There is a confidence that comes when we are first honest with ourselves, then with God, and finally with others. We must come to terms with ourselves before we can actually do this, though. We have to realize we aren't all that we want to be - we get things wrong and we might actually get a little bit right. In general, we are not going to always be consistent - no matter how positive our intent is. There are always going to be times when we don't get it right - when life just doesn't go as planned. In those moments, we can choose to live carefree (in honesty) or we can live a 'caged in' life (in dishonesty).

Most wouldn't think of dishonesty as 'caging us in', but it does simply by all the various stories and facades we must maintain in order to stay within the boundaries of not being totally honest with ourselves, God, or others. I have pans in the kitchen with glass lids. Those lids allow me to see what is going on inside the pan, but if I am not attentive to the objects within the pan, it is possible they may still be damaged by my inattention. Things in our lives can become damaged - not on purpose - but because we haven't allowed or afforded 'directed attention' toward them.

God doesn't have an index finger that he uses to 'point out' our areas of opportunity in life. He might 'direct our attention' to those areas through others, either in something they say, or in how they are reacting to us. Regardless of how we become 'aware' of whatever it is God needs us to focus our attention on for a bit, it is important for us to actually 'remove the lid' so we can see for ourselves what is going on under it! If we aren't willing to 'remove the lid' then we aren't willing to get honest with ourselves. Just sayin!