“But You, O LORD, know me; You see me, and test my heart toward You.”
Jeremiah 12:3a
Often called “Glass flowers, the Skeleton flower is a marvel of God’s glorious creation. Scientifically known as the Diphylleia grayi, the Glass flower is a native of Japan and China. It’s a beautiful small white flower that becomes translucent with heavy dew or rainfall. In its wet, translucent state, the flower’s veins and the structure of its inner workings are clearly visible through its clear petals. When the blooms dry, they are once again white. It’s truly astonishing.
I stumbled across this little beauty while searching for something else. At first, I thought it might be a “fake” find, but I quickly learned it is real.
The unique beauty of the flower intrigued and delighted me. Then, my mind began to explore the idea that something solidly substantial with distinct color pigmentation could become colorlessly sheer once a bit of moisture is applied.
An analogy quickly took shape in my mind. It may be far-fetched, but that’s often how my mind works. It would be beyond worrisome to me if I walked through life knowing that a hearty sprinkle of rain or a misaimed water hose would expose my inner works to the world—my thoughts, dreams, flaws, sins, and failures on display for all to see. How would that prospect strike you?
But here’s the thing. Every person who ever met Jesus when He walked this earth might as well have been made of glass. In the Gospels, when we read about people’s encounters with Jesus, it’s clear He saw right through them to the inner workings of their hearts, minds, and spirits. Every conversation with the religious elite, His one-on-one with the woman at the well, His encounter with Zacchaeus, His response to the rich young ruler, and so many more—every person who met Jesus stood before Him as transparent as the rare Glass flower.
Many who met Jesus knew that when He gazed at them, He saw through the facade directly into their heart. They stood exposed and convicted but felt the love and forgiveness He extended despite their resident sin and heart condition. Those people experienced the soul-cleansing forgiveness and never-ending love of the Savior, and their lives were never the same.
Many Pharisees and religious leaders were angered that Jesus saw into their corrupt hearts and exposed their hypocrisy. They were threatened by the Son of God and unwilling to surrender their positions of power and prestige.
Jesus’s disciples, those who followed Him most closely, realized that Jesus also saw through them. He knew their hearts and spoke directly to the unbelief, selfishness, and sin that filled them.
There was no hiding the inner self from Jesus. All stood as Glass flowers, transparent to His eyes.
And, dear one, so do we.
As much as we want to think we can hide the ugly deep inside, we cannot. We, too, are Glass flowers. God sees. Jesus sees. And God’s Holy Spirit has a front-row seat to all we are.
Delivering God’s message, Nathan the prophet called out King David over his hidden sin, reminding him that he stood before God transparent and guilty. When the King realized God saw through the kingly facade into his heart and hidden sin, he wrote the following verses in repentance and grief over the sin he had committed against God, Uriah the Hittite, Bathsheba, and his kingdom:
“Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your steadfast love; according to Your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.
Behold, You delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
–Hide Your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.”
Psalm 51:1-7, 9-12
We are “Glass flowers,” transparent and translucent before our LORD and God.
As David learned, hidden sins are not hidden—God sees. And those “secret” harbored sins – big or little – steal our peace and joy, and drain our spirit of energy and enthusiasm towards God.
Live transparently. Be translucent. Whether raindrops or teardrops dampen your life, exposing your inner self, live forgiven with a heart washed clean by God, filled with His Holy Spirit, and living in the joy of your salvation.
