YOU LOOK BETTER NAKED

Ariel was eager to see her beloved. Her closet had been turned upside down with most of her clothes lying on her bed. “Damn, I don’t have anything to wear” she screamed as she looked at the clock “Oh my goodness I will be late” she exclaimed as she dug into the mountain of clothes on her bed. She finally settled for a royal blue dress that was elegant and classy. She smiled at her choice and made her way to the mirror to apply her makeup. This took well over 20 minutes and stood before the mirror to examine her handy work. She seemed to like all she saw for all her flaws had been neatly tucked behind the heavy make-up, lovely dress and beautiful jewellery.

She set out for her journey to meet her beloved, hoping he would compliment her after all the work she had put in, to look good for him. She had not bothered to ask him what he likes but she believed all men loved the same thing and she was it for the moment. She arrived 15 minutes late and rushed quickly into the restaurant. She caught a glimpse of her beloved and her breathe caught in her chest. He looked handsome as he walked over to her to receive her.

He smiled lovingly at her and took her hand as he led her to the table. They sat down and started off their evening on a high note. Ariel was a bit disappointed at his not commenting on how she looked. She however decided not to let that dampen her spirits. When they were finally through, her handsome beloved took her hand and took her home.

Ariel made them a cup of hot chocolate as they listened to the soft music playing in the background. Her beloved watched her intensely and quietly said “take it off love”. She almost choked on her hot coco as he said this. She had not known him to make such remarks as he had always been the perfect gentleman. Being playful as she was however she decided to play along and stood up and twirled before him asking “what this?” she asked holding her pretty dress. He smiled as he watched her. “And this” she said as she removed her jewellery. With each item she took off, her beloved’s face brightened with his radiant smile.

She proceeded to take wet wipes from her hand bag and begun to remove her make-up. She finally finished and stood before him. He looked at her in awe as if looking at a priceless jewel for the first time. He stood up and begun to walk toward her, making her heart’s beat faster. She immediately wanted to cover herself up for she felt totally naked and vulnerable before her beloved.

He by now had reached where she was and removed the final thing on her. As he removed the hair clip, “and this” he said as her hair fell on her shoulders. He gently lifted her chin and said the words she had been longing to hear all day long “Much better. You look breathtaking my dear beloved.” She smiled shyly feeling vulnerable before him. “What plain old me?” she asked a bit surprised. He smiled brightly as he stroked her chin, nodding excitedly. He proceeded to whisper in her ear “You do look better naked” before walking out. For the first time in her life these words held a different meaning for her.

MORAL OF THE STORY

For most of us in our individual lives, we have not known what being vulnerable means. Most times we have been taught to be vulnerable is a sign of weakness and our downfall. We have in the long run ended up being prisoner of our deepest burdens which the world knows nothing about. We have been at it for so long that our burdens have become comfortable to us. We have learnt to wear our cares and worries neatly and no one can even guess the heavy burden we carry inside. Through our days we have not known what it means to take off our worries, issues, depression, stress, burden and lay them down before our Lord Jesus. We are so afraid of being vulnerable and being totally naked before Him and saying “have your way Lord Jesus.”

The moment we indeed decide to let our guard down ,we at once feel insecure and want to run back and cover our nakedness with our old lifestyle of stress, worry, unbelief, doubt, burdens not realizing that it’s at that point of our uttermost vulnerability and total nakedness, that our Lord Jesus thinks we are the most beautiful. It’s at that time He can deal with our brokenness, worries, depression, cares, stress and all that weighs us down. In our nakedness we let Him in and allow Him to have His perfect way with us.

We have been tricked and lied to that our dear God wants one who has it all together, sings the loudest, one who reads the bible all the time, one who is most religious and attends all Sunday services, one who never sins and makes everyone happy, basically one who has it all together, is miss and mr. everything-is-alright.

The Lord knows this is just a façade. Each time we go before Him, He desires to see your naked self for that is our authentic self. He desires to take away our burdens but only if we let Him by being real with Him. He cares for us more deeply than we will ever know. It’s okay not to have it all together and be imperfect. Why don’t you take a chance with God today and expose your genuine self to Him after all, you do look better naked. Always.

1 Peter 5:7 “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”

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