This book has been changing my life. Bit by bit my old, long-held patterns of thinking and behavior are being challenged and broken down with the truth of God's Word. God is rebuilding me in new ways, and as I read the phrase above from chapter 11, it happened again.
"His presence leaves no one unmarked."
No one.
That means me. That means you. God's presence leaves a mark.
How will I come away marked?
He won't force it on me. He's not coming after me like some Sharpie-crazed toddler with a vendetta. He will write on the surface available in my life. What surface am I leaving open for Him?
A chalkboard? They're all the trend right now, with their dark, flat surface and temporary scribbled messages. Powdery chalk dust smudges the author's fingers but is quickly clapped away. So is the message - easily erased, either purposefully or accidentally. This message won't endure. It changes often to reflect whatever message is loudest, most popular or most urgent at the time. The marks fade quickly, leaving only the faintest of smudged lines, then nothing at all. Nothing at all.
Or metal? At first, metal seems cold and hard, impersonal. Who wants to expose the cold, hard parts of themselves to God? To anyone? Will I allow God's presence to be engraved permanently into my life? Even if it means He uses a sharp stylus? Deep lines and grooves that are unremovable by time or the elements could decorate the surface of who I am. Marks that can't be rubbed out, washed off or glazed over. Indelible. Undeniable. Forever marking my life - truth seared across the fabric of my being, engraved deep for all to see.
Here's the thing - metal is reflective. It bounces back light. A chalkboard, on the other hand, with its black, flat surface simply absorbs the light.
I want to reflect the Light. And when I do, I want the Light to reveal to the world the marks He has left on me. It will hurt. It will be hard. But He didn't hold back the hurt and the hard to love me. He didn't stand at the foot of the cross with a chalkboard sign. No. He got up on that cross and let His love be engraved across His very body. Marked. For me. Forever. And someday, when I see Him face to face, I will see the marks on His hands and His side. And I want to be able to turn to Him with a blinding smile that matches His, knowing that I reflected Him to the world.
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