Isaiah 33:22, For the Lord is our judge; the Lord is our lawgiver; the Lord is our king; he will save us.

The world looks so much prettier through the lens of an Instagram filter. It has a way of softening the edges creating a milky appearance that is pleasant to the human eye.

It also has the ability to create before us a false image and a distortion of reality. But I will admit in all my humanity that I like the filtered effect of an Instagram image.

Who among us does not appreciate the hard edges of life being softened so that we may find favour in what is being projected before us? Who among us does not desire the comforts of our protective bubbles?

Christ. I think Christ does not appreciate a photoshopped life. I think that only allowing others to bear witness to my outward milky appearance does nothing to show the world that I so desperately need a Saviour. When I allow my roughness to show through the cracks, others are able to see that I am a work in progress.

And my prayer is that others will see the progress before they see roughness.

For several years, as I was birthing my way into adulthood, I wore a mask to prevent others from seeing all that I was lacking. I believed that the mask would protect me from enduring any more undue hurt or pain. But I was wrong. And because I have a Heavenly Father that loves me so much, He allowed me to fall apart so that something of beauty could birth out of my brokenness.

The more I pressed into Christ, the greater He pressed into me. Before long the mask that I wore began slipping and the image I tried so hard to protect was just causing me to appear disfigured. His pressing was an infilling and His holy presence the softness of an Instagram filter, gently cropping out the unsightly mess within me in order to showcase His Spirit at work in the bigger picture of my life.

But I share again that He does not desire me to have a photoshopped life. For if I did, I would no longer need His presence to work out the roughness preparing me for the good works He desires me to accomplish for His kingdom.

So, as I sat down to write today, I sat staring blankly at the counter until the words I needed to pray washed themselves over my spirit giving my fingers the freedom to move over the keyboard. I lifted up the hope in my heart and the commitments list attached to my bulletin board. I lifted up my voice and punctured the still air giving life to the only words that sifted from my heart to my head:

“It’s going to be what it’s going to be. Because it belongs to you and not to me.”

Father, I say these words with conviction and I pray that you continue to soften me from the inside out. I ask for the peace that surpasses all understanding, and I praise you for your faithfulness to create beauty out of the broken.