Don't Be a Closet Dweller - Martin Wiles

In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father. Matthew 5:16 NLT

She’d been in the closet for five years, but now she was coming out. No longer would she be a closet dweller. 

Collecting old picture frames with photos of unknown dead people was once one of my hobbies that my wife didn’t particularly appreciate. She does love the old frames with the ornate handiwork and will gladly replace the dead person with a modern piece of art. But I never wanted to change the picture.

One particular closet dweller hung on my office wall for three years, eyes following everyone who looked at her, regardless of where they stood. Then we moved, and my wife said, “No dead people hanging on our walls—except in your office.” But my dead girl with the roving eyes wasn’t even allowed there. I convinced my wife not to sell her. Instead, she stuck her in a closet.

One day, when I came home from work, I found my girl leaning against a bookshelf. My wife had cleaned out the closet in my study.

“Why is my dead girl’s picture out of the closet?” I asked.

“I have a place on the wall you can hang her.”

And she did. As I walked into my office each morning, I was greeted by her wandering eyes. I was glad she came out of the closet.

Jesus doesn’t like closet dwellers either. He wants our lights—our good deeds—to shine brightly before others. Putting a light under a cover or shielding it only dims the light or extinguishes it altogether.

The light we have as believers is our testimony of what Christ has done in our lives and how we act out the difference he makes daily. We don’t have to preach a sermon to tell others what he has done. Because of the snippet-world technology has created, we need to shorten our testimonies to the bare essentials to share them in a minute or two.

But what we say isn’t nearly as important as what others see. Words mean little without actions to back them. God gives us numerous opportunities to act out our faith in practical ways. And we’ll see them if we ask him to provide us with a gentle nudge when he sends them our way.

Don’t hide your faith or be a closet dweller. Come out of the closet.

Father, give me the courage to live my faith before others so they will be pointed to you.

I invite you to try my book A Whisper in the Woods: Quiet Escapes in a Noisy World. No one escapes life's hurts, but quiet places help us regain our perspective. Click on the title above to order your copy. And thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.