Each week when I blog I try to choose an image that is fitting and somewhat goes along with the post.  I chose this historical marker for several reasons.  It's a perfect visual for what God was speaking to me.  

Let's start with the title, Hidden Truths.  As I've been on this journey of allowing God to heal the broken pieces of my heart He's been revealing Hidden Truths.  Things that have been true from the beginning but hidden away in the recesses of my mind and heart.  Some things were hidden to the point that I didn't even realize they were true.  The main one is the entire reason for this blog, but I'll get to that in a minute. The Truth is, I'd been pouring out of a broken vessel.  The truth is, at times I was running on fumes of the Holy Ghost.  The truth is, sometimes I've been so disappointed I wanted to walk away and not do anything ministry related.  The truth is sometimes the people I'm required to minister to do more damage and hurt me the most. The truth is I was often damaged because of the decisions and choices of others.   

The purpose of a historical marker is to mark the location where a significant event took place, the location of a building that had a major impact or significance in history, or to commemorate a significant person.  Keep this in mind as we move forward. 

The final reason I chose this image is because Hidden Truths marks the location of a city graveyard where construction projects caused the bodies to be exhumed and relocated. 

This week God allowed me to see that for every place of brokenness I had constructed a historical marker.  I had forgiven but never forgot.  I could always go back and look at these markers and be drawn right back into the freshness of the hurt, the pain, the disappointment or whatever the emotion was tied to that particular marker.  I have a great memory and I tend to remember minute details of an event or situation.  That's a blessing and a curse in the same breath.  It's good for remembering the faithfulness of God, the great things that have happened and the beauty, but it's horrible when you're trying to forgive and heal and move forward.  

Each of these little plaques was erected at a place I needed God to heal and when I looked at the collection I had my own historic tour of homes.  It's bananas how many things get uncovered when you let God do the construction. I could see markers for people who'd hurt me, situations that left me disappointed or feeling cheated, for places of loss and grief.  

The markers each exposed a little more about me, a little more about the problems.  Each one held a Hidden Truth.  The truth is, a lot can hide behind a smile and a positive attitude. Just like a lot lies hidden deep below the surface of the ocean.  Sometimes even when you go diving to explore the deep you can still come up having discovered nothing.   I'm thankful that God has been at the forefront of this exploration and everything is being exposed.  

The Hidden Truths I found also let me know that I was carrying around dead weight.  Weight that was slowing me down, keeping me from moving on to the promises of God for my life.  I had a whole cemetery full of markers and God is requiring me to exhume those bodies and get rid of them.  It's like Ezekiel in the Valley of dry bones... I have to exhume the bodies and pile them up somewhere else so once God breathes on them they become a great army of testimonies to be used for the purpose of ministering to somebody else.  

The cemetery has to go through demolition so something new can be erected where it once stood. In this instance God isn't adding new land or new territory, He's making what I already have new!  He's driving out the giants, tilling the land, and restoring the beauty that was once there.  By the time He lets me out of the healing pool the only thing left will be the Historical Marker that says Healed & Whole!  That marker will tell the story of how God took all the broken pieces and made something beautiful.