The Naked Truth

There I was, standing buck naked, putting on my Secret antiperspirant, when the top of the antiperspirant broke off and fell on the floor.

I don’t know about you, but some of my most memorable God, faith, spiritual moments, or whatever you call them, happen in my bathroom. Totally exposed in the shower or tub, soaking the world away.

Yep, buck naked.

There could be a whole discussion on why I think God shows up in my shower or tub. Maybe, it’s because I’m at my most vulnerable, there’s no hiding my faults. Maybe, it’s because it’s quiet and I’m silent. Or maybe, it’s where I go to wash all the negativity of the world away, a place I can be refreshed, renewed. The questions/reasons go on and I ponder things like maybe there is more to the story about Adam and Eve hiding from God, or maybe there’s more to the story of God not clothing Adam and Eve in the first place. So much to ponder, but that’s not really what this is about. This is about pride.

Lying in my big, deep, antique reproduction soaking tub, I was pondering all the issues creeping into my head and heart. Issues of the day – politics, economics, poverty, social, cultural, church hurts, and all the myriad of injustices this broken world holds. You can fill in the blanks because you feel them, too.

Sometimes I wish I didn’t have emotions because typically, my emotions resemble a big ball of yarn that’s been thrown: all over the place and tangled. There in the tub, God began untangling them. He found the end and the beginning – pride. So many problems start with pride; the need to portray qualities or possessions that are widely admired.

Pride says hide your nakedness.

Pride says shave your legs. Pride says put on those control top panties. Pride says color your hair. Pride says put on make-up. When I was younger pride said “look older” and now that I’m older it says “look younger”. Pride says lose weight, pluck your eyebrows, the chin hairs, be smarter, be better and on and on right on down to putting on that antiperspirant.

Well guess what? I sweat and I stink. Eventually, there is not enough pride to cover up or hide my flaws. God knows I stink and so much more. He knows I have hairy legs, especially in the winter, gray hair, wrinkles, stretch marks, flabs instead of abs, and a million other flaws that the world is quick to point out to me, but my pride says hide it. Pride says if you cover it up no one will know. But God knows. Who could be more important than God, the Creator of the Universe?

[tweetshare tweet=”Pride says if you cover it up no one will know. But God knows. ~ @laurabthrifty” username=”grace_and_such”]

Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. Better to be lowly in spirit along with the oppressed than to share the plunder with the proud. ~Prov. 16:18-19 (NIV)

In case you’re worried, at no time soon will I be giving up wearing clothes or my beauty regime; except shaving my legs. I take the winters off. I will still probably try to hide some of my flaws. For those of you who have to see me on a regular basis; the answer to the all-important question is – yes, I will continue to wear antiperspirant. When I’m standing there buck naked, looking in the mirror to apply a fresh coat each morning, it will serve as a reminder to not let pride get the best of me.

Don’t worry about what the world thinks, ask God what He thinks.

And that is the naked truth!

 

Grace & Such strives to advance Christian growth among women. While we believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God, we also recognize human interpretations are imperfect. Grace & Such encourages our readers to open their Bibles, pray for wisdom and study for themselves what the Word says. For more about who we are, please visit the About Us page.
Laura Rodgers
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3 Comments

  1. Sarah B Robinson on September 20, 2018 at 8:42 AM

    Oh, this world! And all of the pressure we put on ourselves to perform/attract. I love/hate how exposed I too, feel at times, because that awareness keeps it real. We’re all helpless/hopeless w/o His grace, every single on of us: kings and beauty queens (I’m picturing them with hairy legs); presidents and their accusers; our heroes and our foes. Thanks for sharing this thought-provoking essay, Laura.

  2. Becky Preston on September 20, 2018 at 9:19 AM

    Yes. Pride is a devious elf, always poking us where we are most vulnerable. Thanks for the naked truth, Laura!

  3. DianeK on September 23, 2018 at 12:50 PM

    Love this whole analogy – buck naked, vulnerable – and we all can relate to how God shows up in the bathroom. Thanks for tying it in to pride – it’s everywhere in my life, and I feel I am in constant battle mode against it. But God’s got it all so I gotta just asking God to take, take it all away (isn’t that a song?). Thx, Laura

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