Joyful Ruins

Written 3/6/22 for context

I’ve had this image of layers being removed stuck in my mind. I mean this in a spiritual sense.

I have been going through ups and downs for over 8 months now. I am healing, but healing is complex.

As one layer is healed, another layer of healing is revealed. It’s an amazing experience, to shed layer after layer. It is also a painful one, bringing pain to the surface first and then shedding it off.

As one who got a degree in Conservation Biology, I often connect the natural world to spiritual concepts. For some, my analogy today will gross them out, but I invite you to see God’s heart in how He created things, how He created natural processes, and how that applies to us too.

Snakes are an often feared animals. Once upon a time, I feared them too. Then I held one, and everything changed. That’s a story for another time. I just tell you that so you know why I am thinking about snakes in reference to life.

Snakes, along with many other reptiles, shed their skin two to four times a year. When they prepare to shed, their skin appears grey and bluish. Even the skin over their eyes turns whitish, making their eyesight decrease. They are vulnerable in this state before shedding. They are more anxious. I read that they aren’t necessarily in pain, but they are uncomfortable.

As the time comes and their old skin loosens, they begin todo the work of rubbing that skin of, using rocks, ground, trees, whatever, to peel it and tear it off.

Then, voila! you have a brighter, more vibrant, fresh and larger snake. Seriously, it’s always a real gift to see a snake after it has shed, because it is like seeing a brand new creation.

If you are still with me after that detailed description, thank you! I think it is an incredible process and I can relate to it. So can you!

There are seasons when we, too, need to shed things. I believe we will be shedding old skin and growing all our life, but that there are some seasons, where we shed continuously.

In those seasons, in those moments, the process begins with pain, vulnerability, and discomfort.

God allows pain to surface so we may recognize it is time to shed.

For me personally, I had ignored my emotional pain for so long, God allowed me to have physical pain so I might pay attention and start the work of shedding (I believe the physical pain came as a result of ignoring my emotional pain, not that God made it happen, but that He made us in a way that this is a natural consequence).

Now as I do this work, it feels like I am shedding things daily. One can imagine that shedding every day would bring some pain and discomfort. In some ways, I feel like I am in a constant state of pre-shedding. I am vulnerable, working off the old skin, not able to see ahead much, and sensitive.

Unlike the snake, I have a personal relationship with an amazing God and He is watching over me in this vulnerable state. I have already shed off many layers and become new in so many ways. Yet, the work continues.

Maybe you are experiencing a similar season or process. I just want to encourage you that it is a natural and important part of life.

The snake sheds in order to grow. It’s old skin is too small and restricting for what it is newly becoming.

You must shed things too, in order to grow, in order to become ALL God wants you to be.

It may be painful and uncomfortable, but it is worth it and it is natural.

God is calling you out of that old skin, old thinking, and into a new, larger, more colorful, vibrant life!

Be patient with this process. Work with God to shed the old things. Trust Him to help you and watch over you. Believe in the result of the trial.

After all, if he does it for a snake, I’d imagine He is more than capable of doing it for you.

Another powerful illustration of this concept is in Voyage of the Dawn Treader, by C.S. Lewis, when Eustace is a dragon and Aslan takes him through the process of shedding his dragon skin painfully and becoming a human again. I encourage you to look it up or read it.