BEEN THERE, DONE THAT

I was doing dishes the other night and saw this . . .




The wings of one of my Willow Tree Angels had fallen off.

I said, "Baby, I know exactly how that feels."

"Seems like, these days, they are off more than they are on."

I've finally accepted the fact that I'm just not going to wake up one day and be good like I want to be good. In other words . . . perfect. Not while my feet are still on this earth anyway.

Stumbling, falling, selfishness, jealousy, anger, frustration, fear . . . losing my wings... are going to be a part of this life at one time or another.

It's a part I don't like.

Yet, it's a part of me that Jesus has promised to renew into His likeness, day by day. (2Corinthians 4:16)

I know God sees me wearing something much more wonderful, much more glorious, than angel wings.

He sees me wearing the Righteousness of Christ.

He sees me pure, holy and justified.

But, down here, when the wings come off, I look like anything but pure, holy, or justified. And, heaven help what I look like to the ones around me. I'm sure they recognize the wings are off long before I do.

Seeing the wings off the angel, and thinking, "been there, done that," I decided to snap a quick picture. As I moved her to get a better shot, I accidentally knocked her over and this is what happened . . .


I laughed.

"Baby, I know what that feels like, too."

"Very seldom do my wings come off that my head doesn't come off, too."

The stumbling, the falling, the selfishness, the jealousy, the frustrations, and the fear are acted out.

My head, my mind, my focus and my will are gone.

I shook my head as I thought about my behavior when my head and my wings are gone.

It wasn't a pretty thought.

A thought that easily brings guilt and shame.

But also, a thought, that brings the remembrance of Grace.

In the past, when my wings and head "fell off," I didn't remember God's Grace because I didn't believe in it.

I didn't believe that I was secure in His love for me. I didn't believe that Jesus had paid the price once and for all. That my sin was dealt with once and for all on the cross.

The unbelief kept my wings and my head off for long periods of time.

The unbelief caused me to run from The One who could help me. It caused me to run from The One who could help me get my wings and my head back on.

Now, though, I know when the wings are feeling loose, when they are barely dangling from my back, when they are ready to fall off along with my head, I know where to go.

I go to The One who reminds me how He sees me.

He puts me back together.

Justified.

Just-as-if-it-had-never-happened.


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