Get Naked

A theme in my life for the past years has been relationships. Anyone who knows me knows this about me. I desire to be open, honest, transparent and vulnerable in all my relationships. In the beginning of this adventure God showed me that in the Garden of Eden Adam was hiding behind some shrubs or fig leaves trying to cover himself so that he would not be seen for who he was. He was a lire, a fake, a want to be man who was insecure, uncertain and untrustworthy. I realized quickly, hey that is me! I could easily be Adam. I lie and blame others for my faults and mistakes. I tell people that everything is OK with me when things are not OK with me. I hide from God and others because I am insecure and do not want them to see me who I really am. I will go out of my way to cover myself up so that no one will get close enough to me, because if they got close enough to me that may see me for who I really am and then they could reject me. What happened next in the story shook me to my core. God spoke to Adam to come out and show Him his nakedness. God was asking Adam to choose to step out into openness, honesty and vulnerability. God was not judging him, He was not accusing him and speaking harshly to him. God was trying to bring restoration and healing to him. Couldn't God just zap him and fix the problem? Yes He could but, God needed for Adam to own up to who he was so that God could transform him into who He is. The way we get transformed is through being vulnerable in our relationships and this causes tension. Most of us run from tension. We view tension as enemy number one. Tension as I have learned can be and most often is very beneficial if we allow it to do what it is designed to do. When you are vulnerable then this creates tension in the relationship, when tension is present then you are forced to make choices based out of love and trust not connivance and comfort. Many of us never cross the line of dysfunction into wholeness because of tension. When things get hard and tension is present we bolt for the door. This is what Adam did. We see in the story God speaking to Adam and looking for Adam to accept responsibility for what he had done. Tension was surrounding them, I imagine it was so thick you could have cut it with a knife. What was Adam going to do? Would he choose to be restored and healed or continue in the twisted darkness of his dysfunction?