Good morning!
Oh, if I had only been able to write this while I was experiencing it!
It's not surprising that the title "Beautiful Garments" came to mind as I felt God with me early one morning last week. And it was probably during a time when I was again asking "Why Lord?" about having to experience the same old tiredness and familiar unable-to-be-satisfied longing to go back to bed! Even that can be painful and can lead to either a turning to God for hope (and motivation) or a sense of frustration and hopelessness (that it will never change), which actually can then drain the energy needed to go forward in the day.
But thankfully, this was a morning in which I didn't want to turn away from the Lord and complain, but instead just started talking with Him about how I was feeling, even kind of joking about the drowsiness, and suddenly the most wonderful thing happened...
It felt like I was being clothed with "something"...something beautiful...like a wonderful garment of...something (oh, how I wish I could be right in the midst of it now so I could describe it better!)...it was beautiful, and lavish, and joy-bringing, and hope-giving, and it made me feel lovely (yes, even at six o'clock in the morning!); and the "coolest" thing of all was that it actually caused me to be grateful for the weariness because it was that very thing that made me turn to God. And so I thanked God for the beautiful garments which helped make the day go so much more...beautifully. Perfectly? Absolutely not (there is nothing perfect down here)...but definitely better due to the early morning encounter with our Wonderful God.
"Beautiful Garments" is not a surprising title because God's Word itself illustrates being in His Presence involving being clothed by Him. Exodus 28 details the apparel that an individual would be given that would set him apart ("consecrate") and enable him to serve God (vv. 3-4). In Zechariah 3, it is the High Priest (again, someone who stands in God's Presence...hmmm, do we see a pattern here?!) about whom the Angel of the Lord (in the Old Testament thought to be Jesus Himself) says to have his dirty clothes removed, and to be given "rich robes" to wear and a "clean turban" to place on his head (vv. 1-5). (And it is VERY important here to add that this priest's filthy garments - not just dirty, but filthy! - were equated with his still-existing Sin which was to be removed, and also that this whole covering in clean clothing occurred in the midst of Jesus protecting him from satan's accusations!). In yet another passage, one is described as being "clothed with the garments of salvation" and "with the robe of righteousness," which is likened to a bride and her groom each putting on the most exquisite apparel in excited anticipation of their wedding day (Isaiah 61:10). And after God's earthly appearance, crucifixion, and resurrection, we are told we can actually "put on the Lord Jesus Christ", which is in the same passage as being counseled to put on an "armor of light" that will protect one from the utter darkness of these times and prepare those who wear it for the coming of our own Bridegroom (Romans 13:11-14; see also, Ephesians 6:10-20; Ephesians 4:20-24, Colossians 3:8-10; Revelation 22:1-5).
But if this weren't enough, it was also the realization that for those amazing morning moments last week, the fatigue that I so often dread and complain about suddenly became several of the glowing threads of that garment God was putting on me. What do I mean? Once again, God's Word (as ALWAYS) gives the answer. Second Corinthians 4 explains that "even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man (who is probably the one experiencing the miraculous outfitting) is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory..." (vv. 16-18; parentheses mine), and James advises to "count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience (and) let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing (James 1:2-4; parentheses mine). Of course neither of these - seeing our struggles as blessings and being joyful in the midst of suffering - can we do by ourselves! Absolutely not. It takes God's supernatural putting-on-of-the-sparkling clothing to enable us to see things from an entirely new - and heaven-provided - perspective. For me that morning, it was the transformation of a heavy cloak of seemingly never-ending tiredness into a life-giving wedding gown of hope and joy that God Is Who He Says He Is and that He will "never leave or forsake" the one who holds fast (even if it's sometimes just with the little tips of one's fingers...) to this Truth (Hebrews 13:5).
Praise God that He will do that for us if we ask Him.
In His Love,
Terri
Oh, if I had only been able to write this while I was experiencing it!
It's not surprising that the title "Beautiful Garments" came to mind as I felt God with me early one morning last week. And it was probably during a time when I was again asking "Why Lord?" about having to experience the same old tiredness and familiar unable-to-be-satisfied longing to go back to bed! Even that can be painful and can lead to either a turning to God for hope (and motivation) or a sense of frustration and hopelessness (that it will never change), which actually can then drain the energy needed to go forward in the day.
But thankfully, this was a morning in which I didn't want to turn away from the Lord and complain, but instead just started talking with Him about how I was feeling, even kind of joking about the drowsiness, and suddenly the most wonderful thing happened...
It felt like I was being clothed with "something"...something beautiful...like a wonderful garment of...something (oh, how I wish I could be right in the midst of it now so I could describe it better!)...it was beautiful, and lavish, and joy-bringing, and hope-giving, and it made me feel lovely (yes, even at six o'clock in the morning!); and the "coolest" thing of all was that it actually caused me to be grateful for the weariness because it was that very thing that made me turn to God. And so I thanked God for the beautiful garments which helped make the day go so much more...beautifully. Perfectly? Absolutely not (there is nothing perfect down here)...but definitely better due to the early morning encounter with our Wonderful God.
"Beautiful Garments" is not a surprising title because God's Word itself illustrates being in His Presence involving being clothed by Him. Exodus 28 details the apparel that an individual would be given that would set him apart ("consecrate") and enable him to serve God (vv. 3-4). In Zechariah 3, it is the High Priest (again, someone who stands in God's Presence...hmmm, do we see a pattern here?!) about whom the Angel of the Lord (in the Old Testament thought to be Jesus Himself) says to have his dirty clothes removed, and to be given "rich robes" to wear and a "clean turban" to place on his head (vv. 1-5). (And it is VERY important here to add that this priest's filthy garments - not just dirty, but filthy! - were equated with his still-existing Sin which was to be removed, and also that this whole covering in clean clothing occurred in the midst of Jesus protecting him from satan's accusations!). In yet another passage, one is described as being "clothed with the garments of salvation" and "with the robe of righteousness," which is likened to a bride and her groom each putting on the most exquisite apparel in excited anticipation of their wedding day (Isaiah 61:10). And after God's earthly appearance, crucifixion, and resurrection, we are told we can actually "put on the Lord Jesus Christ", which is in the same passage as being counseled to put on an "armor of light" that will protect one from the utter darkness of these times and prepare those who wear it for the coming of our own Bridegroom (Romans 13:11-14; see also, Ephesians 6:10-20; Ephesians 4:20-24, Colossians 3:8-10; Revelation 22:1-5).
But if this weren't enough, it was also the realization that for those amazing morning moments last week, the fatigue that I so often dread and complain about suddenly became several of the glowing threads of that garment God was putting on me. What do I mean? Once again, God's Word (as ALWAYS) gives the answer. Second Corinthians 4 explains that "even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man (who is probably the one experiencing the miraculous outfitting) is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory..." (vv. 16-18; parentheses mine), and James advises to "count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience (and) let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing (James 1:2-4; parentheses mine). Of course neither of these - seeing our struggles as blessings and being joyful in the midst of suffering - can we do by ourselves! Absolutely not. It takes God's supernatural putting-on-of-the-sparkling clothing to enable us to see things from an entirely new - and heaven-provided - perspective. For me that morning, it was the transformation of a heavy cloak of seemingly never-ending tiredness into a life-giving wedding gown of hope and joy that God Is Who He Says He Is and that He will "never leave or forsake" the one who holds fast (even if it's sometimes just with the little tips of one's fingers...) to this Truth (Hebrews 13:5).
Praise God that He will do that for us if we ask Him.
In His Love,
Terri
