My curiosity prevailed and I unlatched the wooden carcass of horrors and of course there was nothing in it but the pump and a torn net... and then as if waiting for me to relax, a Jesus Lizard flared up like a mini velociraptor and bolted across the dirt floor. With a quick flick of the wrist, I latched the mouth of that box shut and said out loud, "Nope. Never opening that again."

Later that day as I was contemplating my adventures and I shared with Sydney that we had a Jesus Lizard in the backyard shed. She said jokingly, "You locked Jesus in the shed?" Which made me think how often we keep Jesus locked up in our sheds.

Our lives are filled with many rooms. There are some that are more important to us than others or at least there are those that are more public than others so we tend to them the most. When guest come over, I imagine there are rooms in most people's homes where the doors have been shut. We do this with our interior life as well. Our souls filled with rooms we nurture and those rooms we neglect and those other rooms we'd rather not go into at all.

We avoid them for many different reasons. Shame, pain, anger, doubt, fear, and on and on the list can go. But we always know that room is there. We hide it from our self, others, and God. But just because we ignore it doesn't mean it is going to improve or go away. We like to think that God doesn't know about the dark places. We like to think that Jesus will avoid our moldy shed. The truth is, he's there already. There is no place where God is not, there is no place God is unwilling to go, and there is no place God doesn't desire to bring light to and heal.

Psalm 55, the Psalmist says to cast your burdens to God. In Matthew 11 Jesus invites us and says, "Come to me all who are burdened and heavy laden". There isn't much that is heavier than a secret and pain we've been avoiding and attempting to hide from our self and God. What is that weight you are carrying? Open that shed door, don't be afraid of Jesus living in your dark places; he's there to bring light, healing, and hope. What is amazing is that when you open that door and he heals that place, he moves into all the other places and makes them brighter too.

Peace and Blessings,

Pastor Cory Britt