Peeling the Onion
The other night as I was praying with a group of friends, I felt like the Lord gave me an image for the group, and also to be shared with others who would hear it. It is important to clarify that God is always speaking, through creation, through His Word, through His people, but also through moments in prayer and reflection in words, pictures, and other means. God is always speaking, the question often is: Are we listening and willing to hear his voice? I have written about this in a previous blog called “Tuning into the Frequency of God,” if you are would like to learn more about how God speaks.
The picture that I had in my mind was of an onion, not a beautiful, fresh, supple onion, but rather an onion that looked tired and worn, dirty and dried out. It was unappealing, crusty, and tired looking. If you were to make a judgement call based on the exterior of the onion you would probably feel like it’s past its prime, and really not much good for anything. It would probably be better suited for the compost or garbage, not the dinner table.
Lately, I have been talking with a lot of people who, at least in some area of their life, feel just like this onion on the outside and are not really sure what is going on in the interior of their lives.
When we get that dried out, weary shell that sometimes happens in life, it can be hard to see past the exterior that has formed. Another problem is that the shell also creates a barrier to good things getting in, and to others seeing what is still hidden underneath. If you were to peel back the layer and rip off the hard, dried out exterior you would find that underneath is a supple, healthy, appealing onion.
When I was praying, I felt like this was something that God was wanting to do for people in this season. He is wanting to peel off the junk, the hardship, the pains and even for some the apathy of the last season and give people fresh starts and new beginnings. Far too many people are feeling like they have grown cold, hard and spiritually lethargic in this season. There are many reasons for this. Which, for the most part, fall back on us and our choices, our fears, our agreements and our lack of motivation.
God is not nervous about this, but he is aware and he is willing to meet you, if you give him space to do so. It may not feel good to let this happen. It may feel counter-intuitive to what you want to do. Our tendency is to to run or hide from him, until we can sort ourselves out and get healthier first… this doesn’t work. Often, we think that time will make it better, or make us feel better. It doesn’t get better, it gets coped with, and buried, and harder to access. If you’re feeling aware of a hard place that needs God’s touch, this is a great time to give him access to your area of need… your onion skin as it were.
There is a character named Eustace, in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis, who is a challenging young boy with a hard edge and a cutting wit. In this fantastical story, Eustace ends up becoming a terrible dragon, an outward expression of an inward reality. Eustace was like a dragon on the inside and he became one on the outside. It comes to a point where the mighty lion Aslan, the Christ figure in the story, comes to Eustace-the-dragon and offers to transform him back into a boy. But it would come at a cost. He would have to be willing to change more than just the exterior, and it would be painful as Aslan cut deeply into the dragon scales to release the boy hidden within.
Jesus offers to cut the onion skin, like the dragon’s scales, of our past, our wounds, our apathy and even fears to release the hidden life within.
In order for this to happen though you need to give him access to that skin, and in a sense, permission to cut in and remove the hard exterior or shell that has formed on your heart. You may need to be willing in some cases to confess where you have allowed your faith to grow cold or dry. You may need ask him to forgive you for not leaning in to him in this season as much as you have wanted to and definitely needed too. Perhaps, it is making that choice to return your heart, affections and attentions back to Jesus. Perhaps, you have noticed in your life that you can’t do this on your own.
The good news is that it is possible to change… to get rid of that hardness, dryness, apathy or (insert your word here)!
Jesus has made a way.
As I prayed with my friends that night, I was impressed with the awareness that Jesus longs for his church to live not like a scattered bag of dry onions, but rather like the beautiful, fresh, flourishing onion that is still hidden within that shell.
Here are few quick ways to check out your onion (soul) right now and assess the state of what you find there.
Pause or Selah - To selah is to intentionally pause in God’s presence. It is a musical annotation from the Psalms which indicates a break in the music or singing. It provides an opportunity to stop and collect, but also to breathe and reflect on what has happened so far and also on what is to come. I am sure that many of us could use more Selah moments in our lives, especially in this season. One thing is for certain, in order to make a change we need to stop doing what we have been doing in order to start doing a new thing. So press pause and stop.
Invite God’s presence and His activity in your life - Welcome the Holy Spirit, thank Jesus for his love and completed work on the cross and empty tomb that makes transformation of the soul even possible. Then receive the Father’s love again though Jesus. Return your heart to him.
Ask Jesus to show you what is going on there: In what ways has your heart become like that dry onion? - He will never lead you astray or come in condemnation. His heart is for you and for the renewal of your heart. At times you can feel where things have gotten dry and stale in your faith, but may not be able to put our finger on it, or how you got there.
Deal with what is revealed - Whatever Jesus reveals to you, take the time to deal with it. Confession, repentance, forgiveness and gratitude is the way forward on this. If you are not sure how to do this check out my previous writings at Threshold Initiatives. Or reach out to me through the email at Threshold Initiatives for a conversation, or more information. Jesus is faithful, good, and just, and will deal with what is there if given the access and the willing heart of one who is ready to make a change.
Start fresh - Once the outer skin is off, don’t continue to live like it is still there. Start fresh. Remember that under that shell, once transformed by Jesus, is a healthy, vibrant, whole life to be lived and enjoyed with God. If he makes you new don’t go back to what got you to the place that you were. Live as one set free!
Share about what Jesus did - One way to keep moving forward is to share about the difference that Jesus has made. Share about how he cut through your own “dragon scales” to release the person hidden within. Talk about what he has done to make that possible. Talk about the goodness of God and how he made a way when you were feeling like there was no way. When we share our stories of faith God’s story is revealed in us!
This season may continue for longer than any of us may want admit, but we are responsible for how we choose to live in it. How you choose to reorient yourself in this season will help you to set healthy intentions for the seasons to come!
It is possible to live a fresh, healthy and flourishing spiritual life. If you feel like you may be that dry onion right now, remember what is inside and the life there, but also that Jesus is longing to meet with you to peel back that tough exterior and both reveal and release the person hidden there into new life.
