Peeling your onion

There's a line from a movie, a popular, not so Christian movie, in which a fable character describes himself as an onion. He has layers, you see. He isn't one dimensional or particularly easy to peg... He is like an onion, he has layers. My friends and I have adopted this theory, with just a little twist.

See, we believe that we too have layers - layers of sin and selfishness that God often finds Himself peeling away in order to get to anything remotely workable for His purposes. And peel He does! He peels our onions until He gets to that more perfectly white, shiny, clean part that is much more appealing and easy to work with.

That peeling gets pretty painful at times. The refining work of God is often a painful process. I know in my heart that it is a necessary
pain, but any time God grabs ahold of my papery outer layer and begins removing chunks, I grimace and wince and fight it. It is human nature to fight discipline and refining. It's hard, which is human nature to avoid and we are taught from an early age to shy away from pain. When we try to avoid the refining work of God, however, it gets more painful, not less, because there is no running from God.

You see, God has this grand plan to grow us... I know, I know! You didn't ask to grow. Neither did I - or so I thought. But the fact is, when we asked Jesus into our hearts and accepted the free gift of salvation, God interpreted that as an opportunity to grow us into the image of His amazing son! And if there is one truth that I know, it is that God will have His way... NO MATTER WHAT! No amount of us thinking we can run from God will deter Him from doing what He has planned.

First, let me say this. In all earnestness, all jokes and levity aside, when God refines us on matters that are terribly close to our hearts it is excruciating and bewildering. When God takes people and comforts away from us it is tempting to become very angry with Him, especially when we feel like it is unfair. I do not pretend to know or practice everything I am about to tell you here. I am writing from a perspective that can only be called "inspired."

God peels our onions to bring us closer to Him, at the very core of all matters. That is God's goal. Remember that the first man and woman lived in a garden that God visited daily. He didn't come to be served fruits and have sacrifices laid out to Him (yet)... He came to walk in the garden with his creation and fellowship with them! God wants to bring us back to that model. He wants to walk with us again. Sometimes we allow other things to take the place of that sweet fellowship with the Father. We replace him with spouses, family members, money, things, jobs - you name it! We find ourselves chasing after those things and running from God in the garden.

And thus begins the peeling... He begins with that outer layer, hoping, I'm sure, that we will be obedient and turn toward that refining. If we don't listen, God peels another layer... And another... And another. Wondering what that peeling looks like in practicality? A friend of mine has described it in light of her own experience. She began experiencing difficulties in some relationships she had. God stripped her of those distractions. He then began to strip closer friends, activities that were distracting, and more until she felt that she was utterly alone - just her, her husband and God. Right where He wanted her - with Him! Only then did God have her attention to complete the work He wanted to do in my friend. It was painful, hurtful and left some wounds that are still struggling to heal, but she knows He did it for her own benefit. It is a lesson she reminds herself of often when she feels that peeling start again.

Are you experiencing a painful time right now? Something that you really don't understand or feel is fair? Maybe instead of running from the pain, it is time to stop, turn around and head into it. God will not ask more of you than He is willing to walk you through Himself. I am not saying it will not hurt. I am not saying that I myself haven't spent lots of time running from the pain. I am saying that God is asking us to be completely and wholly His and that requires that we follow Him, trust Him, and allow Him to work in us.

Allow God to strip away the old, dead, papery thin parts of you in order to reveal that lovely, white, soft usable heart. It will not only ease your pain somewhere down the road, it will produce a fruit in you that will please God. And, after all, isn't that what it's all about?