Shameless.

via

The term “intimacy with Christ” gets thrown around a lot without solid definition. It seems vague, elusive, and unreachable. The idea has mulled around in my head for a while, but I don’t think it will ever really be defined...only experienced. For me the intimacy I desire is closeness—familiarity—when it’s hard to see where I stop and God starts...a dynamic life-breathing flow and synergy.

From the time of creation people were intended to be intimate with God. This intimacy comes when we allow ourselves to be perfectly naked and vulnerable before him…and often we find this level of vulnerability to be uncomfortable. It is impossible to have comfort in nakedness when there is shame.

Trust is so important in intimacy because you can’t remove shame without first trusting. Can I really trust that when I stand naked before God, all covering removed, he will still accept me? When I am fully known—not just physically, but emotionally, spiritually, psychologically—when the very depth of my being is exposed—when all my inadequacies, insecurities, and ineptitudes are revealed—will he still want me? Will he still love me?

My inadequate coverings of shame are unnecessary—he has already provided the ultimate covering. I don’t have to shamefully cover my sin in his presence because he has already covered it with his blood. When I scramble to mask my sin from God—he already knows what I have done and he has already forgiven me. By removing shame (taking off my self-made “coverings”) I can more fully enter into an intimate relationship with Christ. The great oxymoron—we approach God with our shame when he has already covered our sins—it’s brilliant; it’s beautiful…it’s a daily struggle to accept his acceptance.

When I can finally learn how to be comfortable showing everything, I can truly be refined. Because I trust him. Because I know that he desires only the best for me. And the best thing for me is to allow him to refine me.

“He has made everything beautiful in its time…I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live.” Ecclesiastes 3:11-12