Do
you remember the scene in Gone With the
Wind where Scarlett O’Hara is desperate for money to save her southern
plantation? She lost everything in the Civil War and had to work in the hot
sun, picking cotton, to keep it going. She decided to visit the wealthy Rhett
Butler and ask for money. She didn’t want to show up looking like a field hand,
so she made an elaborate dress out of the ornate curtains in her living room.
She meets Rhett and talks to him as if her life is going great, and she doesn’t
have a care in the world. He is happy to see her, until he looks at her hands.
He sees how rough and weathered they are and realizes the meeting was a
charade, because she had been working in the fields, was penniless, and wanted
money from him.
I
never understood that scene until I saw it again recently. She was pretending to be someone she was not, or at least, she was not
representing her reality. She was doing her best to make herself and her
situation appear better.
I
remembered this scene, as I was getting ready for a networking meeting. I
didn’t want to wear the old work shirt with our company name and logo on it.
It’s not that I’m ashamed of the company, it’s that the shirt is old, too small
and not in style anymore. It looks more like a mechanic’s shirt, than a
marketing shirt. Envisioning the other women at the meeting wearing cute,
stylish clothes, I wanted to wear something else. However, the truth is,
November is a slow month for our company, and anytime we can get our name out
there, it helps bring in jobs. But, like Scarlett, I didn’t want to appear
desperate. I wanted to appear confident, like everything was going great.
Don’t
we all do that at times? A women wears a beautiful wedding ring, even
though their marriage is anything but shiny. People drive expensive cars they can't afford. Others brag about their kid’s
success, but leave out the reality of their strained relationship. Don’t most
people present an I-have-it-all-together image on Facebook and social media,
when their life may really be unraveling?
Thankfully,
God knows our reality. We don’t have to put on a fancy drapery dress and try to
impress Him. He knows when our life is difficult - maybe not picking cotton in the fields – but still painful
and hard. He loves us and has a
plan for our lives.
Unlike
Scarlett O’Hara, we don’t have to rely on our land or Rhett Butler to survive. We have a God who loves us and will provide
for us from His abundant riches. We know, as Believers, what David said is
true:
“Surely God is
my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me.”
Psalm 54:4
Even though I didn’t want to, I wore my
company shirt to the meeting. I prayed and trusted God would provide for us
through the lean months, as He has for so many years.
Have you ever acted like you had it all together,
when you were really going through a rough time?
