Don’t Let Pretense Steal Your Peace

I remember when my oldest granddaughter was forbidden to chew gum. This meant, of course, that gum occupied little Emerson’s thoughts. My son and his wife had made the ruling because three-year-old Emerson was prone to eating gum instead of chewing it, and because she had shown a remarkable ability to transfer it to her long blond hair in no time flat. It was hard, but I’d like the record to show that Keggie here complied with their gum ban.

This is not to say that Emerson couldn’t chew a mean stick of pretend gum! “What kind of gum do you have, Keggie?” Emerson would ask, while working over her own imaginary piece. “Orange,” I’d say. (I’m a longtime fan of Trident Tropical.) “I got purple,” Emerson would say breezily, chewing and smacking and looking for all the world like she really did have gum in her mouth!

Children are natural pretenders, aren’t they? Indeed, just like us big people. Is it me, or did it get quiet in here? Funny how that works.

Did you know God’s Word has a lot to say about pretending? There are a handful of references to it in the book of 1st John alone. Over and over John opens a train of thought using remarks that begin with “if a man says” before he goes on to caution us not to pretend to be something we aren’t.

There are a host of pitfalls awaiting the pretender, but today, I want to zero in on a big one. Pretending hinders our prayer lives. Fellowship is broken with God when we aren’t being honest about where we are spiritually and what’s really happening in our lives. Pretending makes us uncomfortable before God and man. On the other hand, spiritual honesty is peaceful. If our prayer time isn’t peaceful, there just may be some pretending happening. Let’s name it, address it, confess it, and reclaim our peace!

Hugs,
Shellie