It's Not Over

 

In my last blog I talked about the concept of Jesus-with-the-skin-on. At the foundaton of this concept is the fact that we ALL have broken areas, we are ALL wounded, we ALL have dysfunction that we need Jesus to reach into and work with and heal. No matter how closely you walk with Christ, if you have breath you still have broken spots. If you were to tell me that this isn’t true for you – that you have arrived- I wouldn’t call you a liar, but I wouldn’t believe you either. Sin (whether our own or another’s) ruins us all – it just does – and it keeps damaging us on a daily basis. Without a doubt, we all need a Savior to deliver us from this ruination.

Sometimes our pain, our woundedness, is so great that it is hard to face. Jesus-with-the-skin-on is my terminology for a believer operating in the Spirit who is willing to be a focal point for you to latch on to as you face the darkness or pain inside yourself. Jesus isn’t here in bodily form to hold onto you as the pain erupts, but He can be here in one of His children who can live Him in that moment for you. That person becomes His face, His eyes, His hand to cling to, His voice that whispers “You are safe; you are accepted; you are loved.” I experienced this concept as a young teen, and I believe in it so fully that I try to live it for someone whenever possible.

It is ironic, however, the timing of my last blog about this concept – it proves that God has a sense of humor. I say this because this week I very unexpectedly experienced a huge dose of my own thinking. I really don’t know how it happened. My prayers going into the interaction were that the Holy Spirit would empower me to speak truth boldly and touch others for Him. I had no intentions of allowing someone else to reach into my own woundedness and see one of the internal battles that I fight. No intentions at all...but sometimes God’s plans tend to supersede the best of my intentions.

2023 was a HUGE year of healing for me. God did things inside of Ruth that I never expected this side of heaven. But the truth is that I, like everyone else, still have some very broken areas. The Power of the Holy Spirit allows me to function well in spite of them, but they are still very much there. This week, the Holy Spirit prepared a moment with just the right people for some of that to be exposed. Two people became my Jesus-with-the-skin-on and….it was scary. In fact, my fear tempted me to just get up and leave at one point. But I was lovingly encouraged to stay... and I let them see my pain….and I’m glad because something broke inside of me that I can’t yet put into words (a very good breaking). Something is different in Ruth yet again, and I think that moment was God’s reminder that 2023 wasn’t the end of what He wants to do in me, for me, with me. It was also a clear reminder of why I can’t do this alone. There simply are intense moments when we really do need eyes to look into, a hand to hold, a voice to tenderly encourage (and someone to offer us a box of kleenex when the tears are overwhelming). 

Jesus comes to His children when they call – sometimes even when they don’t. And sometimes He comes in the form of another one of His children who can see into them and love them in spite of themselves.

He comes in Jesus-with-the-skin-on.