Greenhouse

There was once a man who owned a greenhouse. One day he noticed his neighbor looking over the fence into his backyard and straight at the greenhouse. The man decided he didn’t feel comfortable with this neighbor looking at his greenhouse. Not that he had anything to hide, of course, but it just made him feel a little vulnerable.

He walked all around the greenhouse. The walls were transparent, and he could see many of the plants he kept inside. A few were small enough they were hard to make out, but it was still obvious something was there. And whenever he worked in the greenhouse, he’d be obvious, too.

So he bought a tarp. A large black tarp. He draped it carefully over the greenhouse. It hung to the ground on three sides of the small building. Now, the man thought, he felt much more secure. No more could prying eyes look into his property.

It didn’t take long for things to begin to change inside the greenhouse. Leaves began to droop and turn brown. The man began to feel frustrated. He watered his plants faithfully. He fertilized them. He even tried playing music for them. The internet had guaranteed it would work.

But still the plants withered away. Then one day, he noticed something else. To his dismay, the flowers on the westernmost side of the greenhouse that had been flourishing earlier suddenly began to die. He remembered the package had said they needed full morning sun. With the tarp covering the greenhouse, they were now only exposed to sun in the afternoon. His whole hobby was turning into a disaster.

I suppose you think the man in the story made some bad choices. Perhaps you scoffed at his ignorance the first time he pulled out the tarp. And I’m quite sure you suffered frustration when he played music for his plants instead of taking off the shade that was blocking the badly needed sunlight.

But don’t discredit him too quickly. I think there are a good number of us who do the very same thing with ourselves.

We cover our feelings. We hide from people who get too close to discovering what and who we really are. And then we can’t figure out why we aren’t growing. Why does it seem that we’ve begun to stagnate? We’re doing everything we can, but it’s not working like it used to.

Transparency. It’s not an easy thing. It can be scary to let others in. We quake at what they will see and what they might think. It seems easier to keep out of sight.

Some of our faults are real. Some are only imagined. But either way, we tremble to think of someone else being able to see them. Yet we are clearly instructed in James 5:16 to “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed.”

I believe that it is this transparency that will help sustain the Church of God as time draws ever nearer to a close. Transparency is where we can continue to grow in grace. Transparency is where we are able to allow the light of our Father to glow through us and shine upon those around us. Transparency is where healing will begin for wounds caused by sin and for deep hurt not of our own making.

Yes, it might be terrifying to tear off the tarp and let others see what is underneath. But there is also a freedom, a lightness, that comes with learning to reveal what is underneath. Transparency is where the Glow of God shines through. It’s also where the Grow in God happens.

If you are living a tarp-free life, stay courageous. It takes a special kind of strength to live in such a state of vulnerability. If you’ve been afraid of taking the tarp off, know that you will never regret it. Know, too, that things will not be as terrible as you imagine, should you begin to lift a corner of your tarp. Because the Son will shine upon you, and you will be richly blessed.

Wishing each one a bright and beautiful week!