Written on Your Face

This past summer I undertook a healthy eating challenge called the Whole30. Basically it is eating nothing but whole, nutrient dense, good-for-you, real food for 30 days. The restrictions seem daunting, but truly, once you start, the life-changing goodness of the beautiful food that God has given us to eat seems obvious. Without processed foods I lost my constant exhaustion, pain, and weight. For the first time in a long time I felt energized and focused. After those 30 days I truly believed that my life was going to be different from that point forward. And it is. I discovered the source of my fibromyalgia symptoms (gluten, it's an evil thing), found that dairy doesn't sit well in my tummy, and too much sugar at once makes me feel ill. I found how much what I choose to put in my body effects my health. And, honestly, it is difficult to eat something that makes you feel crappy.

Or is it?

I've found myself, in the few months since my first Whole30, eating a lot like I was before.

Wait, what? I thought "my life changed". It did. Sort of.

Now, a few months later, I've had quite a few people commenting on my weight loss, even though I have eaten "off plan" a lot since June ended. While it is flattering, and nice for people to notice, I can't help but wonder, is my faith in Jesus just as obvious? Does a life altering spiritual experience leave such residual and obvious effects.

Just like the Whole30 many of us go through a "spiritual cleanse" where we do a Bible studies, read a book, or any other "spiritual" thing and we feel convicted and motivated to change our life. Sometimes we have an encounter with God. He speaks to our hearts in a powerful way, and as a result we change our routine. We are more diligent and intentional. We pursue our relationship with Him, because we see how much it matters to our overall health. 

We think that these new habits will stick. We think that we will be bold about our faith. 

But life sets in. Then we find reasons not to read the Bible. We find excuses to eliminate our daily prayer time. We get busy. We get lazy. And those "life changes" are suddenly a distant memory. But what remains? We didn't lose weight, there was no physical change.

You life changing experience is not written on your face. It is no longer obvious to anyone on the outside, and maybe not to you either.

Yesterday I listened to the testimony of a young woman (you can too here) and at the end of the recording she says something along the lines of "I went to work and a co-worker said, "You're glowing!" and I said, "It's Jesus!"" I can't shake that image. Glowing from the love of Jesus. How incredibly powerful would that be if we all glowed from His love for us.

In Exodus 34:29-35 Moses went to speak with God and returned with his face radiant from the encounter. He was reflecting God's glory to the Israelites. They couldn't handle it, and he veiled his face. I like to think that Moses veiled his face to help the Israelites, but I truly don't think that's the case at all. I think he veiled his face because the Israelites saw their sin reflected back at them.

I don't know about you, but I feel like in both of these scenarios the reflection of God in the faces of His children show something to the observer. Sometimes it's love. Sometimes it's sin. I think for each of us it could be different because what is reflected there is what God wants to reveal in you that is keeping you from your relationship with Him.

This is the kind of testimony I want to be to God's children. I want my face to glow from being in His presence. I want to be the kind of leader that is constantly overflowing with the goodness and love of Jesus. This, though, takes desire. It takes effort. It takes work. I must, just like Moses, make time for Jesus. I must pursue Him and my relationship with Him.

I must be in His presence to reflect it. Just like I must actually eat the good food to get the benefits of it.

As Christ Followers we have a treasure available to us at every moment. We have the Savior of the universe begging us to seek Him, talk to Him, and love Him. May we all pursue His presence so that we might reflect His glory to the lost. So that we might point to Him.