cracking the windows

(Two quick things: facebook friends, i'm sorry, i will try and hit your topics... just not in this post. secondly, my friend Jason has a blog, and his latest post i consider his best of many great posts so far. Please visit In Lieu of Eye Contact and enjoy.)

I drove to Lowe's today to see if they had dry erase paint. It's paint you put on your walls so you can draw directly on the wall with dry erase markers and are still able to erase it right back off. Awesome stuff, except that i failed in my first attempt to put it on my office wall. Long story.

But as i parked my car in the Lowe's parking lot i had a very quick dilemma on my hands: do i lock my car or keep it unlocked? As i exited my car i made this decision: i'm going to "crack the windows to give the appearance of security." I thought those literal words.

In that moment i had an insanely meta-cognitive moment: is this really me? is this who i am? Do i leave the windows cracked just to show people something i'm really not?

Do you leave the windows cracked in your life? Maybe with a trusted friend you tell the stories but leave out the details. "Well, i did something i'm not proud of... but i learned my lesson..." but you don't ever share the details, and what it was you learned. You provide a cracked window, but you don't let them in.

The thing with me is this, i probably crack the windows the best around my wife, closest friends and fellow employees. Why? So that i look secure. But isn't it better to be secure?

In the Kingdom, being open is being secure. "They were naked (bare), and felt no shame." Genesis 2:25. In what ways are you cracking the window, and with whom? Why? Are you afraid they can't help you? Are you afraid of the consequences?

What about with God? Cracking the window with Him comes in various forms. One of the easiest of the many forms to fall into is doing something good instead of doing His will. "I wrote my dad a card," doesn't substitute that exact thing on your heart that you know God's calling you to do in that moment. We create security in the cracked window of a good deed, when our true security comes in following His will. There is no greater security than being in God's unlocked car of His dreams for you.

Stop cracking the window, and you will experience a greater security than the false security you are trying to show off to the world.

Or to the customers at Lowe's for that matter.