In Me Is Where You'll Find You

By Jess Dahl, Resonate Seattle

In the garden you were uncovered and unashamed.

You decided to pick yourself up and listen to outside voices seeding doubt, seeking shelter in other things. Outside of my love, you were now vulnerable. 

I had to cover you with leaves. 

I knew I would eventually have to cover you with my ultimate act of grace, 

but until then the leaves had to hold its place. 

It would be bought at a great price.

You sought shelter in the good things I had made, 

good things that could not hold the weight of the glory you bear.

Aren’t you tired of carrying them; 

All that you’ve been told you must wear to show the world who you are?

They grow heavier the longer you hold onto them, 

Turning from show to shackle.

They start out light and many help place them in your hands.

Over time they trip you up. They become hardened in place and you're stuck inside, suffocating.

THIS IS ME you shout to the world. 

You drape yourself in the rags that are quickly fading.

The louder you shout the more deaf your ears become to my voice telling you who you are.

The more you carry the more hardened your heart becomes to accepting my will for you. 

In me, you are home.

All other earthly containers slowly harden your form into something devoid of my grace. 

Instead of searching the world frantically, search for who you are in me. 

Your true life is hidden in mine. 

The other things tell you to perform.

Their voices are harsh and unforgiving. 

Make one wrong move, and your place in the group is in question.

My voice says you are mine and you are loved. 

I have done it all to have you know me. 

I ask you to trust me, to do it my way,  and I give you my power to do so. 

I’ve made you to know me, to create, to bear my image, and to be in relationship with others to help you along the way. 

Neither of those things were meant to be burdens:

To know me reminds you who I am and who you are. 

To create makes my glory known and fills you with joy. There is work to do. 

To bear my image shows those without hope the way to find true life in me.

To do this in community is a blessing, nothing more or less.

 I love to co-create, and I made you to do the same. 

The leaves in the garden have been exchanged for the mighty work I did on the cross.

My son showed the ultimate way to be human and found his identity in me. 

You no longer need to hide behind those other things.

Go and bear my glory. 

Since then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. 

Colossians 3:1-4