The Pigs Got Out...

The Pigs Got Out...

Our escapees...

     Last Friday, I had recently left the farm and hadn't been gone 5 minutes before Bekah called me with a frantic voice exclaiming, “The pigs are out!”.  So, I quickly turned around and sped back to the farm, all the while thinking how difficult it was going to be to herd three “normally” cooped up pigs back in to their stall.  Well, after driving around to the barn I could see her standing in the back yard surrounded by three white piggies.  I have to admit that I enjoyed the sight.  They seemed to be generally disinterested in their new found freedom and were just walking around like nothing ever changed and their whole world was not much different.  Just a few minutes before, I had called for reinforcements because I knew from experience how wriggly and strong little pigs could be; however,  these guys had doubled in weight since I last handled them and would be impossible for me to really wrangle with just my strength.  So, we ushered them to a muddy spot by the barn and there they wallowed and dug with their little noses looking for bits and snacks in the dirt.  After only a few minutes, help arrived and we all fanned out swaying our hands, wooing them toward the barn and finally back into their stall.  I’m sure we looked positively sane during the wooing process.  We searched around for an explanation of how they escaped and found they had pushed a hole through a poorly patched section of wall and it was through there they had designed their escape.  Although inconvenient, I had to admit that this was part of the adventure I had signed up for when we bought the farm.

     This situation, somehow remind me of a song I had heard recently by Big Daddy Weave called ‘Redeemed’.  You know, sometimes in our lives the pigs get out and wallow in the mud.  In doing that, these 'three little pigs' can inadvertently reveal a weakness and show the shame or guilt that we  have tried to keep pinned up in our barns.    I have yet to meet someone that does not wrestle with some hidden sin or struggle in their lives behind closed ‘barn’ doors.  You see, I did not even know where my weakness was before the pigs got out.  Maybe you can identify.  The trouble with me and I can only assume many other Christians is, we all want to assume or even just pretend that the barn structures of our lives are completely sound.  That’s not the point of Christianity.  Christ did not die so that we could accept Him and then try to appear perfect.  He died so we could display our imperfection and shame and despite that WE CAN STILL CLAIM WE ARE REDEEMED!  This displaying of His love for us will draw other broken people to Him as well.  In essence, we can be the most freely broken and imperfect people in the world and in that even more so be glorifying Him!  All too often I’m discouraged by the cracking and breaking apart of the mask of having it together  that I try to hide behind instead of glorying in the fact that the revelation of my imperfection should reaffirm that He can be glorified in me spite my imperfection.  So, the word is out, I suppose.  My barn is imperfect and I needed outside help from a neighbor to corral the pigs back in and deal with the issue.  The question I would pose to you is, would you be willing to do the same for someone else and, even more importantly, would you be willing to expose your imperfections so that others may see that in spite of them Christ is still redeeming you?  

Prayer: Lord, please reveal to me my own heart.  Please help me to understand that my redemption and position in you is not based on my perception of my perfection.  It is based on who I have placed my faith in, which I pray is you.  Please help me to learn how to fall evermore in love with you that this world may see your great glory and grace through my life.

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