“They have misled my people, saying, ‘Peace,’ when there is no peace… when the people build a wall, these prophets smear it with whitewash.”

There’s a danger that’s easy to miss in church culture: looking whole without being whole. Trust me, I've both experienced and lived it. In Ezekiel’s day, God called out prophets who kept shouting “Peace!” while ignoring the cracks in the wall. The structure was falling apart, but they slapped on spiritual whitewash to make it look stable. It was false peace—paint over brokenness. And eventually, the whole thing collapsed.

That image should stop us in our tracks. Because if we’re not careful, we’ll do the same thing with our hearts. We’ll cover up bitterness with polite smiles. We’ll hide anxiety behind leadership. We’ll say “It is well” when what we really mean is, “I’m numb, and I don’t know what to do.”

Jesus never whitewashed anything. He didn’t tell people to pretend. He didn’t offer shallow words over deep wounds. He confronted what was broken so it could be healed for real.
And that’s the difference between false peace and true peace:

• False peace suppresses the pain and polishes the surface.
• True peace surrenders the pain and invites Jesus to do the deep work.

If you keep painting over the cracks, eventually life will shake the wall and expose what’s underneath. But if you let Jesus deal with the foundation, then He’ll rebuild you into something stronger than before.

You don’t need more paint. You need more presence. You don’t need to hold it together—you need to hand it over.

So today, take off the whitewash. Let God get under the surface. The only people who ever get whole are the ones honest enough to admit they’re broken.
 
God can't fix, what you don't bring.

Write down one area you’ve been hiding behind spiritual paint.
Pray over it. Then speak this truth aloud:
“God, I don’t want false peace. I want to be whole.”

Lord, I confess I’ve been covering up the cracks. I’ve called things “fine” that aren’t. I’ve settled for looking okay instead of being made new. But I want Your peace—real peace. Tear down the false walls. Wash off the whitewash. Do the deep work in me. I’m not afraid to be exposed if it means I can be made whole. In Jesus’ name, Amen.