Swept Away

"Spread out your open hands, and he will raise you up."

Sometimes people, including myself, present themselves as a different person than they are on the inside. I confess to being fake both with other people and with my God. Have you ever been broken on the inside, but walked into church on Sunday morning or youth group Wednesday night acting as if you had it all together? That's a subtle way people pretend, but it can get out of hand very quickly until you practically have two or more identities. You play "chameleon", changing your appearance & act depending on who you're with.
But the thing is, God sees everything in you, and knows every single thing about you--everything you've done, thought, or ever will do or think.
Now, as scary as that might sound, there's more to it than that. Yeah, he sees everything you do. He knows when you've messed up. He saw it with his own eyes.

But...

He does not condemn.

Instead of seeing you through eyes of law, he looks at you through eyes of grace. What that means is, he doesn't look at you in your sin (no matter what your sin is) and say, "Dang, she's screwed up. Ok, moving on to someone actually worth my time."
No, he looks at you and says, "Yes, she (or he) has made some mistakes. She's not perfect. But I want to forgive her for what she's done because I love her anyway."
And not only that, but he will make you something great. He will do things through you that you would never be able to do on your own. That's not to say he'll force it. But if you let him take the initiative, you'll be amazed at the change in yourself. You will be able to handle life SO much better. Trust me, if it weren't for him, I would not be here.
Until then, think about the lyrics to this song. Being yourself with people makes things less complicated, and even better--being yourself with God will free you & heal you from the inside out.

"Spread out your open hands, and he will raise you up."

*Note--this song has screaming.