Day By Day #29

Day by Day #29

MORNING/MIDDAY OFFICE

Silence and Stillness before God (2 minutes)

Scripture Reading: Genesis 3:4–7

“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from [the tree] your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

Devotional

After Adam and Eve turned away from God, they used fig leaves to cover and hide their shame. These fig leaves have often been referred to by spiritual writers as the false or idealized selves we project in the world to cover and hide the shame we feel about our true selves. We effectively put on a fig leaf whenever we tie our identity to anything but the deep love of God and his will for our lives. Theologian Robert Mulholland identifies a few of the elusive qualities of such a false self:

When we live as a false self we fear that our lack of a true center for our identity will be revealed and that weakness exploited by others. One of the ways our false self tries to compensate is to find our identity in performance. “I am what I do” is one of primal perspectives of the false self. . . .

Our false self is a master manipulator, always seeking to leverage its world and all those in it in ways most advantageous to our own security, prestige and especially, agenda. . . . Our false self always promotes us and our agenda above all others. . . .

The worst form of the false self is when it gets religion, when it becomes a religious false self. . . . [It] develops so gradually over the years of our life—it is so subtly ingrained into us by our culture—that we usually are not even aware of its presence.^a

All our relationships are impacted negatively when we live out of a false self, when we choose to project and protect an idealized image. They are also impacted positively when we live out of a true self anchored and grounded in God. God invites us to trust him as we go out into the world, noticing with whom we may be wearing a false self, and trusting that he will take care of us if we live truthfully and authentically.

Question to Consider

As you consider taking off any “fig leaves” you may be wearing, how do you hear God’s promises, “Do not fear. I love you. I will never leave you”?

Prayer

Lord, grant me courage to see where I am hiding behind the fig leaves of a false self that is afraid of being exposed. Help me to trust your love and to let it fill every part of my being. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)

MIDDAY/EVENING OFFICE

Silence and Stillness before God (2 minutes)

Scripture Reading: Numbers 11:10–12, 14–15, 17–18, 20–23

Moses heard the people of every family wailing . . . and Moses was troubled. He asked the LORD, “Why have you brought this trouble on your servant? What have I done to displease you that you put the burden of all these people on me? . . . I cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me. If this is how you are going to treat me, please go ahead and kill me—if I have found favor in your eyes—and do not let me face my own ruin.” . . .

[God said,] “I will take some of the power of the Spirit that is on you and put it on [seventy elders]. They will share the burden of the people with you so that you will not have to carry it alone. Tell the people: . . . Now the LORD will give you meat, and you will eat it . . . until it comes out of your nostrils and you loathe it.” . . .

But Moses said, “ . . .Would they have enough if flocks and herds were slaughtered for them? Would they have enough if all the fish in the sea were caught for them?”

The LORD answered Moses, “Is the LORD’s arm too short? Now you will see whether or not what I say will come true for you.”

Devotional

The people of Israel are clamoring for meat and blame Moses for their discomfort and limited provision of food. Instead of asking and trusting God for his provision, they demand Moses rescue them from their pain. Moses responds immediately, jumping in to save them. In fact, Moses overfunctions by doing for them what they can and should do for themselves.

Overfunctioning is particularly difficult to identify and remedy because we often get rewarded for it, especially in the church. However, it damages friendships, marriages, churches, workplaces, and families. As a result, we become resentful (like Moses); we perpetuate the immaturity of others (like the complaining Israelites); we damage community; and we stray from what God has purposed for us. Perhaps most importantly, we don’t have to face the fears that drive our overfunctioning in the first place.^b

When we overfunction, we end up believing that we are indispensable—that things will fall apart if we let go. Actually, the opposite is true. If we let go of our overfunctioning ways, then God’s work will prosper—in us and, ultimately, in those we seek to serve. When Moses does let go and cries out to God, even in his frustration, God intervenes.

Question to Consider

In what areas of life do you sometimes feel indispensable? (For example, at home, at work, at church, in a friendship, with your extended family.) How might God be inviting you to let go?

Prayer

Father, help me to trust that you really are on the throne, that your arm is not too short to take care of the people and situations I care so much about. Grant to me a healthy sensitivity to relationships when I am doing for others what they can and should do for themselves. And may I rest in the freedom that comes from being deeply grounded in your love. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)

^a M. Robert Mulholland Jr., The Deeper Journey: The Spirituality of Discovering Your True Self (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 2006), 31, 37, 39, 45.

^b For additional teaching on this important theme, see ch. 6, “Quit Overfunctioning,” in Scazzero, The Emotionally Healthy Woman.