Day 11 - Who are you when no one is looking?

GENESIS 30:25-31:55

Who are you when no one is looking? Jacob was exactly who he portrayed. He was a man of integrity. The person you are in private is the person you really are!

Jacob worked hard for 7 years and was betrayed, he worked another 7 years to get what he really wanted. Jacob didn't have to do a good job. No one was looking. But he did his best because it was the right thing to do. He did it because He was serving the Lord and not just himself. Jacob revealed that he was a man of character and integrity. Even in difficult, unfair, and trying times he faithfully kept his word. He did his best in whatever he had to do. And God was pleased.

Do you feel that you are underpaid, overworked and under appreciated? If so, I encourage you to ask: Who are you working for? What are you working for? Life isn't always fair, but God is trustworthy. Look around your house, your garage and make a mental list of all the things that you have. Estimate how much time, energy, and money you have devoted to getting this stuff. How much of the stuff is already garbage? How much time, energy, and money have you been investing to in the things that are eternal, the things that will last forever? Do you live a double life? Are you proper when you are in public or when at church but in reality you are something much different? Do you think the Lord doesn't know? Who do you think the Lord will judge on the final day: the pretend you or the real you? How do you handle tough, painful, and unfair times of life? Who are you when no one is looking? Are you the same person that others see or are you living hiding yourself? I have learned that when my husband and I start keeping things from one another that we separate ourselves. We have conversations with each other about how we are as a couple, how we are as a family, how we are in our individual walk. These little conversations help me to open up to him about things that are hard to talk about in passing. It gives me a since of trust and openness between the two of us. I used to silence my phone in the case that someone would call and I would have to explain who it is and why they are calling. Though there were times a text saying hi from an old friend would come through, I was hiding it. If I am having to hide it from my husband, am I wrong for doing it? Yes! If I just let the phone ring or text sound, then there is nothing that I am hiding. There is nothing wrong with having friends, there is something wrong with having friends that have to be kept secret. If you are doing this then you aren't just looking at them as a friend, you are looking at them as a part of you that you don't want others to know about. I want Rob to know my friends, I want him to be excited that I have friends that will encourage me and that are a part of who I am today. I feel like out of everyone in my life there are two people in my life that look at the true me. When Rob looks at me, he knows the good, the bad, the kind, the ugly, the problems I have, the past I have had, the way I cope, and the way to help me! If I didn't have him as a support, as a husband, as a person that I share my life with - there wouldn't be many people out there that knows the true Leslie. I am not perfect, I stumble, I fail, I fall short of the life that God desires for me every day! BUT in this I know that I serve a gracious God, a God of compassion and understanding. I know that when I am sinning it isn't just my husband that knows, it is God that knows and that He will be the ultimate Judge for everything in my life! To live a life through Him means to have integrity when no one is looking! To me it means to be the person that people see when they look at you, not the person you want them to see.

Very Respectfully,
Leslie

Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place. - Psalm 51:6