Buried Bones
Our new dog thinks she is quite clever. She thinks that in order to keep bones away from our other dog, she can bury them in the ground and no person, and no other dog will ever be able to see them or find them. One of the funniest dogs we ever had was our little Maggie, a little silky terrier who is no longer with us. We had three dogs at the time, a lab mix and a beagle and then Maggie. Maggie always felt threatened by the bigger dogs and thought she had to outsmart them when it came to treats and bones. She would ever so carefully carry her treat to the rug in the living room and with her nose push what appeared to be invisible dirt on top of her treat and then she would plop down next to it and guard it. If either of the larger dogs would come near her “buried” treasure that was in plain sight, she got irritable.
As humorous as that is, I came to realize that it was just natural for dogs to hide bones. It is also natural for humans to hide things too. Everyone, at some point will try to hide something, perhaps our weight or age or something embarrassing to us or even sin in our life.
The thing about trying to hide things or the effort to put our feelings, or emotions, maybe our burdens, or our disappointments under wrap is that we end up doing what our dear Maggie would do… we try to bury something that is still out in the open. No matter how hard we try to hide our pain, shame or our sin, God sees through it all.
“Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight.” -Hebrews 4:13
Isn’t God full of grace?
God shows us so much grace in regard to our bones that we try to hide on our carpets. He allows grace when we pretend that we’ve buried our bones; and He then offers us grace to pick our bones up and make things right.
God’s grace is life changing, not only does It cover our sin, but It also exposes it. Because of God’s grace, you and I can recognize what our bones are in our life and with God’s help we can make sure we don’t trip on them, or allow others to trip over our exposed bones. (sin)
“Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.” -Psalm 139:23
What bones are visible on your carpet today?
Powerful post, Laurie! I love the verse you used from Hebrews.
Oh so true, Laurie. We do try to hide things that are in plain sight; especially God’s sight. I am thankful for His grace!
Ouch! That smarts! Sometimes we forget He sees it all- even the motives of our heart. Thanks Laurie, for this convicting post.
So true – those things we think we are so good at hiding are really just in plain sight for everyone, except ourselves. Let’s all try to open our eyes to our frailties and things we cling to unnecessarily.
A really provocative post, thank you.