The Veil Between

In his book, "The Pursuit of God," A.W. Tozer writes about the two different kinds of veils that are or have ever existed between God and mankind. The first veil was in the temple separating the Holy of Holies (where God's Presence abided) from the rest of the temple. This veil was not some thin piece of fabric, but woven from yarn. On the day Jesus Christ was crucified, at the exact moment of His death, there was an earthquake and this veil was torn. I believe that that signified the most beautiful result of Christ's death, burial and resurrection: Open communion with God. No longer did we need a human priest to act as mediator between us and God; Jesus Christ became that Priest and the ultimate Mediator (1 Timothy 2:5). God took the first step to bridge the gap between Himself and mankind by giving His Son. Praise God we can now come before Him at anytime with anything!

The second veil that Tozer writes about - and the one I want to spend a little more time talking to you about - is the veil that believers put up between God and themselves. 

Tozer writes, "It is the veil of our fleshly fallen nature living on, unjudged within us, uncrucified and unrepudiated. It is the close-woven veil of the self-life which we have never truly acknowledged, of which we have been secretly ashamed, and which for these reasons we have never brought to the judgment of the cross." (p.44)

My first reaction was, "I don't have one of those! I'm completely open with God all the time." And then my Jiminiy Cricket (that is, my Conscience) was so kind as to ask, very sarcastically, "Really? All the time, huh? You never hide - or try to hide - anything from God? Ever?" My reply was simply to hang my inner head in shame because I knew that, more often than not, I'm doing everything I can think of to prevent God from seeing some of the darkest secrets I possess. 
But I am reminded of a verse in the Bible that speaks on this matter. It's found in 2 Samuel 16, the chapter when God chooses David to be the next king. 

In verse 7, God says to His servant Samuel, who thinks that any number of David's older brothers would be perfect, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." (NIV, emphasis mine)

What this reminds me of is that it's easy to convince the people around me that I'm great, that I'm on top of life spiritually. But no matter how hard I try, I cannot convince God (and I think I often try harder to hide my "true" self from Him than from others). 

I'm sharing this because, in the last couple of days since I read this bit in Tozer's book, it's a truth that is becoming evident in my Journey with God. He has been faithfully pointing out the various things I try to keep from Him, gently reminding me that it's working just about as well as an elephant hiding behind a telephone pole. He reminds me that He doesn't demand perfection, but that He desires an honest, open relationship with me. A relationship where I'm in constant communication with Him, being candid about my struggles. He would rather I bring my struggling self before Him rather than try to fix it on my own.

I definitely have not got this down yet, but that's the beautiful thing about Journeys: They're composed of many miles - even some backtracking after a wrong turn. But God, being the patient Guide He is, is always faithful to show us the way back to the main route. But He's not going to force us back. The choice is ours: Will we continue to keep the veil in place that makes in nearly impossible to follow God's guidance or will we tear down that veil, opening ourselves up to God completely? Let me be the first to say that, in choosing Option B, we will find the Journey with God to be that much more enjoyable. 

After all, a GPS is more effective if you aren't hiding it with your hand.