What Does it Mean to Unravel?
by Rachel Craddock, Guest Writer
TODAY’S TREASURE
Yes. Outwardly we are wasting away but inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
2 Corinthians 4:16
What Does It Mean to Unravel?
Everyone has a story. We are all living products of the moments we have experienced in our past; how we interacted with these moments mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, shapes the way we live in the present day. In order to better understand how we see ourselves, how we interact with others, and how we interact with God in the present, it is necessary to understand our personal stories and the significant, life-shaping events of our pasts. The understanding of the highs and lows in your personal story will give you a better understanding of yourself, and listening to the highs and lows in the personal stories of others will increase your compassion, empathy, and connectivity to those around you.
In the last few years, I have worked hard to look back into the shadows of my past and use God’s Word to shine a light on the deeply woven threads of shame, unworthiness, and my longing to belong. Once I brought these little demons into the light, I didn’t see my pain in a neat little box; what I saw was many woven layers of pain. When we overcome one layer of shame, unworthiness, and longing to belong, there is always another layer underneath. As I’ve worked through my personal story over the years, I have seen that I have many lies tangled-up with truth in my heart, and because I ignored this shame and these lies for so long, lies and truth became interwoven, making it difficult for me to discern what was a lie and what was truth.
I have had to take a long, hard look at the experiences of my past and unravel the interwoven lies from the truth. Just like a sweater unravels, the first thread is the beginning of the unraveling of all the rest. Once you tug on one loose thread, you will soon be left with a hole in the fabric, a hole revealing and exposing what lies underneath the surface. The exposure, or the unraveling, is outside of human comfort and control. It’s scary and makes you vulnerable, but the unraveling is necessary and good.
In my experience, my journey in life has been a slow unraveling and pulling apart of the old so I can fully embrace the new. Unraveling is a life-long journey and a daily dance in the gospel where moment by moment we are called to die to ourselves and live for Jesus. In seasons, it has been painful to unravel; I have felt naked, but at the same time, the unraveling has been wonderful and freeing. I am freed as old patterns wisp away, and in the unraveling, I find new life which I have access to only in Christ.
LIFE-GIVING ENCOURAGEMENT
I am not the one doing the work of the unraveling. This transforming change has had to be supernatural. It is God who sees me revealed and exposed, doing the work to carefully unravel. God is completely in control. Jesus, God’s Son, is the image of the invisible God. In the New Testament book of Colossians, Jesus is described as the continual sustainer of creation. He is before all things and in Him all things hold together (Colossians 1:17). Jesus holds all things together to keep them from falling into chaos or unraveling out of control. My patchwork is bound together by Christ in me, the hope of glory. The same power that raised Christ from the dead lives in me through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has great power over sin, death and the unhealthy threads of shame in my personal story.
Being unraveled is not easy, but it is good. Being unraveled little-by-little in the hands of a completely in-control and good God reveals less of me and more of Him. My hope is that as I share my story, you will think about your own personal story and unravel side-by-side withme along the way. In the unraveling, we will see The God who, little-by-little, makes all things new.
PRAYER
Lord, You must increase, but we must decrease. We confess we have so much unraveling to do. Thank you for Your grace and mercy that makes us new and changes us from the inside out. Yes, outwardly we are wasting away, but inwardly You are renewing us, day by day.
Rachel Craddock, a writer and speaker, serves as Regional Advisor of Women's Ministry to Mid-America for the PCA. She desires to encourage women in a relatable way to practically apply the gospel to their daily lives, and have a relationship with the God who unravels the old to make us new in the redemptive blood of Jesus. When she is not busy serving in her community as a substitute teacher in the public schools or parenting her four fun children Ezra (10), Asher (8), Caleb (7), and Lydia Jane (5), Rachel enjoys reading, dark roast coffee, trail running, traveling, date nights, and blogging. She and her family are members of North Cincinnati Community Church in Mason, Ohio where her husband serves as lead pastor. You can connect with Rachel on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram,or on her blog, rachelcraddock.com
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