Pedestals and Podiums

     One might look upon this image and see a young, beautiful woman. Her long, brown hair flows with the wind, caressing her perfectly sculpted cheek bones. She doesn’t smile, nor does she look to be showing any sign of joy, but her eyes say it all.

She is what her friends call, “the perfect woman.”

But even though they may gaze upon her infinite beauty, they have no idea of what goes on inside her head. All that they can see is the image that lies in front of them.

They will never understand the torment that haunts her every time she looks in the mirror, nor the demons around her that whisper terrible lies.

One will never know the gifts that God has given her, nor the trials that he has put her through.

One will never know of the mistakes that she has made, nor the goals that she has achieved.

     

     The public judges by the image of people that they see. They never even consider looking deeper into the story that lies on the front page of the tabloid newspaper. It never once crosses their mind that that image is perhaps a human being just like them.

     

     We as humans place normal people, just like you and me, on pedestals. We glorify them until their very life and soul gets sucked out of them. We take away their freedom to mess up, but what’s even worse is that we take away their right to be forgiven.

If someone ever heard about even one of this lovely woman’s mistakes, he would never be able to look at her the same. But if someone were to hear about what she has given up to glorify God, he would place her on a pedestal as high as the sky.

The only human that we have placed on a podium who didn’t disappoint us, was Jesus Christ, and yet even the Jews stripped Him of His pedestal and killed Him because He didn’t live up to their expectations.

     

      No matter who or what it is, we always feel the need to exult or put down others. It’s human nature, but it must be stopped. People get hurt, and people get killed. Maybe not physically, like Jesus Christ, but emotionally and spiritually. They get driven to drugs and alcohol. They become the very thing that they wished never to be. We expect so much out of them.

We slowly kill them.

And there is only one person who can save them, and they reject Him time and time again.

Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Who are you? Who am I? Who is He?

     Throughout time people, culture, language, religion, the world in general has changed drastically. These changes have altered the very fabric of our society too many times than I could care to count. But even through all of the constant changes or, modifications per se, there was, is, and always will be one thing that remains as a constant; God and His Word.

    

     In previous eras, certain groups of people have been put down because of specific attributes that they possess. For example, women, African Americans, the mentally handicapped, the diseased, gays and lesbians; the list continues on. As time has pressed on, ideas and beliefs have changed allowing more people to be accepted into society, and they will continue to do so, which is great.

The Bible demands us to love one another, and not to put others down. (John 13:34 & 1 John 4:20) Two of my favorite verses.

     

     But this post is not focused on accepting one another as much as it is accepting yourself. As a teenager I, myself, am still trying to figure out who I am and what my purpose is in life. But as I have progressed in life, all 16 years, I have picked up a few pointers.

We are all different, and that is good. God created us different, but still in his image. (Romans 12:5-8 & Genesis 1:27)

     

     Because we are all so different, it can be hard at times to find out who and what you are, but most importantly why you were created. Those who have committed suicide have failed to find out why they were created by God, and because of this emptiness they ended the very thing that God gave them. It is very important that one discovers their live's purpose, and for some, glorifying God isn’t enough. They desire more. They crave that knowledge and understanding that only God can give them.

I am one of those people.

     

     I have this untamable yearning for belonging and understanding that only God can put an end to. I have yet to discover this great mystery, but I believe that God has shown me the first step of many in accomplishing such a task.

Finding out who I am.

I must find out who I am in order to determine my purpose, as do you.

     

     Because I enjoy stories, movies, songs, pictures, just art in general, I tend to find who I truly am in songs or pictures. The way they make me feel; the memories that they cause to resurface; the thoughts that they put into my head; it tells me things that people alone cannot. I feel that art is God’s way of speaking to us through the Holy Spirit.

     

     All my life I have had people tell me who they think that I am, or what they think God’s purpose is for my life. As I have grown to study myself and contemplate on whom I am, I have discovered something very disappointing. I am nothing like what people have described me as.

     

     According to the world I am kind, relaxed, smart, talented, respectful, cheerful, amicable, ect. Yes, I may possess some of those attributes from time to time, but that is not who I am.

I am dark.

     

     For a long time I have wondered why I always choose to write so dark and evil to where it almost becomes depressing. But as I evaluate myself, I come to the conclusion that that is just who I am. I am dark.

     

     I am a reckless, self-centered, resentful, rebellious, evil, revengeful, sin filled teenager. I refuse to accept what God has given me, and I desire what I cannot have. I am human, and I hate it. But is that all that I am, human and evil with a cheerful, perfect cover up? That is why I am doing this.

To find out who I am.

     

     I’m going to list pictures and describe what they make me feel. I believe that this is the best way for me to find myself, and once I discover who I am, only then will I be able to accomplish God’s purpose for my life.

    

     I am not doing this just for myself, but I hope that in showing you this, that you yourself might be able to do the same. I pray that God will reveal to you who you are, and in doing so, that you would find your purpose. But most importantly, be able to understand Him better.

     

     The rainbow that floated within the sky began to disappear as the car inched nearer and nearer in its general direction. They say that a rainbow is simply the reflection of light from the moisture in the sky…or something like that…I never paid attention during science.

A rainbow is merely an illusion, but what if there was an illusion inside the illusion? What happens to the moisture once you have gotten too close? Where does it go?

A rainbow is a marvelous thing. It signifies God’s promise and so much more. It is beautiful, and it has so many fairy and tall tales based upon it. Mankind tends to make up stories and fantasies for things which they do not understand. For example, a pot of gold that lays as the end of it, a unicorn that can gallop up and down it, and now I shall introduce a new theory, or myth if that makes you feel more comfortable.

     

     As one draws closer to a rainbow, the sun’s rays alone do not cause you to no longer see it. It disappears because it’s time is up. I melts away as if all it wanted was to make you happy, and now because you cannot see it anymore, partially because of the sun’s rays, it begins to cry.

A rainbow is made up of moisture, which is water. What do you suppose rainbow tears would look like? Colorful, perhaps? Why not? A rainbow is full of colors.

     

     As the tears fall from the colorful arch in the sky, some find themselves in puddles caused by the day’s previous rain fall. When they hit, their color scatters and creates a crown. What does a crown signify? Royalty. What rules over a rainbow? 

God.

Even as the rainbow fades and dies, it rejoices in its magnificent creator. A rainbow is a martyr. A martyr that no one acknowledges, and yet it always returns to place a smile on our faces. God’s creation is perfect and outstanding. Nothing but its creator can compare to it…and yet…He put us in authority over it. How sad, and yet how wonderful.

     Do you see a pulse? Do you see electricity? Do you see your favorite color? What do you see? To be completely honesty, this one took me awhile. At first I began to think of it as music, but then my mind wondered to the geek inside of me.

Gary Bell.

    

     Only those who watch the show Alphas would understand, but in a nut shell, he is an autistic man who can see the electrical frequencies/currents within the sky. So yes, perhaps it is music. Perhaps it is electricity. Or perhaps it is a work of art of which we are supposed to stare upon and wonder. Ponder about. 

Kind of like God, in a way.

     

     We do not understand His ways, nor do we understand Him. He is a great mystery, and yet, we feel as if we have this connection with Him. We feel as if we know Him better than anyone else.

That is exactly how I feel about this picture.

     

     We have no clue what exactly it is, but we have this sort of connection to it. It speaks to us individually and tells each and every one of us different things.

     

     This picture takes me back to my beginning point. We are all different, and God made us different. If He, just like this picture, spoke to use in exactly the same way, the world would totally be boring. We would all have the same feelings and we would all have the same calling.

We would all be cookie-cutter robots.

     Ah, now this is the real purpose, eh? Even if you haven’t found out who you are yet, cause I know that I haven’t, this is a message to you for when you do.

Because we are all created differently, we have an instruction, and this picture sums it up.

Never change who you are.

     

     God created you with a purpose. Pray to Him. Find out what it is. Find out who you are. Find out who He is. Solve the mysteries of life. Change the world, but don’t let it change you. “Be in the world, but not of it.” Love others. Show mercy. Have grace. Follow the instructions of the Bible.

But never change who you are.

You are you, and that is perfect in God’s eyes.