It’s Time to Come Out of the Closet

I loved the movie, “The War Room”, about a woman’s “prayer closet”. That’s where she went to prayerfully “battle for the souls of her family members”. And, while our prayer closets are certainly worthwhile for pleading our cases to God, it’s time we come out of our prayer closets long enough to go into the world to boldly declare WHAT and WHO we stand for as Christians.

Honestly, too many of us keep our Christianity in a closet. We heed the old admonishment to not discuss religion or politics. But, really? The two major discussion points for letting our lights shine are not be discussed? How can our voices be stifled when the voices of others who oppose God’s side are so loud?

I once worked for a technology company going through its beta-testing period. Giving our opinions about the systems were important for the engineers. I didn't want to “rock the boat”. I “hoped” it would all just work itself out and get better. Before long, I broke my silence after I heard someone say: “The squeaky wheel gets the grease.” That idiom means that the loudest (or most noticeable) people (or problems) are the ones to get the most attention. I hear those loud, noisy, angry, bitter, cranky, mocking-God-and-His-people voices in our world today; voices that oppose the 10 Commandments, God’s Word, morality, and God, Himself. Those people are getting so much attention these days because they are boisterous and loud. Christianity remains the largest religious group in the world at nearly a third (31%), yet we restrain our voices.

Jesus didn’t call us to be closet disciples. He gave us some stern warnings about denying Him. Matthew 10:33 says: “but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.” Keeping our faith to ourselves isn’t the “light” that Jesus said we should be. He told us to go into all the world with Him. Our faith was made to be made public because we are called to evangelize the world and we cannot do that silently.
There are controversial groups who have “come out of the closet” and their voices are VERY, VERY loud. It’s time for us to stop hiding in our closets and declare Whose side we are on.

For years I chose to downplay my religious faith. But, as you can see from my daily posts about my “active” faith lifestyle and witness, I am out loud and proud to be a Christian. I look at it this way. If I had the cure for cancer and hid it in my “closet,” what kind of humanitarian would I be? I have the cure for depression, loneliness, anger, sorrow, discouragement, and the lack of joy, love, hope, and peace. I can’t hide it. That’s why I share it every day. I love my friends too much to stay silent. I am not a loud, militant Christian who tells everybody who’s not thinking the way I do that they’re going to hell. I’m a passionate Christian who speaks love boldly and loudly and that "true" love comes only with a faith and belief in God and His Word.

With this blog today, I’m proposing that we bravely use our “outside voices”. Election time is around the corner and we have the opportunity to make our voices heard. One of the greatest ways to be bold and loud as followers of Christ is to believe that politics really does matter. We better believe that these upcoming elections are important. We better believe that our vote makes a difference. I’m not saying that voting takes the place of preaching the gospel or feeding the poor or mentoring our children or having a personal relationship with God. Not a chance. But I am saying that voting for the principles in God’s Word will make a massive difference for our nation. "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord." Psalm 33:12

Just Checking Out My Fall & Winter Wardrobe!

I changed out my Summer wardrobe for my Fall and Winter wardrobe a couple of weeks ago, which is a good indicator that Summer will continue for a few more weeks. ;-)

The best wardrobe, regardless of the season is Proverbs 31:25: '“She is CLOTHED with strength and dignity and she laughs without fear of the future!” That whole 31st chapter is notably called by many as the Proverbs 31 Woman. That gal is a tough cookie and trying to live up to her standards sure seems like a lofty goal. But her example wouldn’t be in the Bible, were it not a message God wanted to get through to us.

I know some amazing “Bible” women of today who wear those clothes of strength and dignity. One is a beautiful friend who is battling cancer and has lost all of her hair. She wears the most attractive scarves, hats and wigs, but most beautiful is the strength and dignity she displays in the midst of her daily struggle to survive another day.

I have another friend whose two children were at those ages when they were able to take care of themselves – dressing, grabbing their own meals -- if need be, getting up for school, handling their homework etc. But, then a relative could no longer care for his two young children – one still in diapers. My friend's heart couldn't abandon them. Her world came to a screeching halt, to love as her own, provide and care for these two young children – who have many needs. Yet, she is a Proverbs 31 woman who is clothed with strength and dignity and she praises God for the opportunity to care for those two precious children that brought on many new responsibilities and changes for their household.

That scripture in Proverbs rings loud and clear to all of us women! First of all….our daily clothing attire should first, and foremost, be that strength and dignity that only comes through trusting God and His Word, and that comes from spending time with Him. When life seems unbearable and we are surprised with an upheaval in our plans, it’s time to steal away and go to our Wardrobe Prayer Closet where the Strength BEARER and Strength GIVER is waiting to dress us for success. Oh, we know that “Dress for Success” is a slogan that encourages people to find confidence and to build up their self esteem by looking professional. But we can be “dressed to the nines” (perfection on the outside), but be completely a wreck on the inside.

Our strength, dignity and power doesn’t not come from what we wear or how much we can accomplish in one day. It flows out of our relationship with our Heavenly Father.

How often do we get all flustered by the have to’s and are loaded up to the point of exhaustion? How often do we get so busy running around doing things FOR God, that we forget to spend time WITH God? The oftentimes-overwhelming-tasks that face us could be handled so much better if we would spend more time putting on our “strength and dignity” ensembles, while sitting at His feet like Mary did (in our Wardrobe Prayer Closet), spending time in His Word AND in the words of the last part of verse 25, “she laughs without fear of the future!” We can laugh in the face of the enemy because we are assured that God holds our tomorrows. I think it’s time for putting on our strength and dignity outfit, because when the weight seems too heavy to bear, it will be no problem – our strength AND dignity that comes from His wardrobe department -- will help us not just handle it, but to laugh our way through it.

That “strength and dignity” outfit sure looks good on you!! It’s just the right fit!