8/27/2014
It's often easier to put on a smile and keep going than to admit your struggling, and broken. Yet the Christian walk calls us to be transparent- admitting that we are broken. That is why we are in high need of a savior. Our flesh is completely incapable of enduring trial alone. Yet (as I can only speak for myself) I still find myself smiling rather than admitting my world is falling apart. Why? Because my flesh knows that it is easier. What a disservice it is to act like everything is sunshine and rainbows all the time. I have been guilty of such- for that I greatly apologize.
Transparency is a difficult, yet a necessary thing. Being transparent is showing your evident need for Christ. The bible has multiple accounts of God's children being transparent during trial. How transparent? Well they wrote books about it. These books have been combined in the "good book". This book has been translated in multiple languages, and been the best seller for generations on end. Now that's transparent! These men wrote a detailed account of how they endured. Examples including David as he endured under the hands of his enemies, Jeremiah as he cries out in Lamentations, and Paul as he was imprisoned. If the bible is made up of so many accounts of transparent men- why do we shy from being transparent ourselves? Again it's a flesh thing. It's so much easier to smile and keep going than to be open and honest. Now I'm not saying we should mope around and invite everyone to a pity party. So what is the option here? (Remember I am telling myself all of this as I share it with you). The option is.... to smile. I know. I know. I just said we should be transparent under trial. Yes! We should! The option is to smile knowing that God is sanctifying us as we struggle. I definitely find that something worth smiling about.
As Jeremiah, David, and Paul endured they praised God. Like in Lamentations 3: Jeremiah cries out to God as he endures, and he accepts God's sovereignty. "Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope; "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. "The Lord is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him." The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him." (Lamentations 3:19-25) Like in Psalm when David cries out under trouble: "Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. Preserve my life, for I am godly; save your servant, who trusts in you- you are my God. Be gracious to me, O Lord, for to you do I cry all the day. Gladden the heart of your servant, for to you, O Lord, do I lift my soul. For you are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you." (Psalm 86:1-5)
Facing difficulty and admitting it are two very different yet similar things. Facing struggle is like admitting it to yourself and asking God for help. Struggle is not something to be ashamed of, but something to rejoice in knowing that God is at hand. He is working in you, and me through trial. Romans 5:1-5 tells us "Therefore since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." James 1: 2-4 says "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness and let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." Both of these passages inform us of what good things struggle produce in us. They clearly inform us that struggle and trial are good for us. They remind us that we must rejoice in them. So let it be done.
The challenge? Be transparent. Just like the men in the bible. Like David, Jeremiah, and Paul -praise God as you do so. Like Romans and James remind us rejoice in your struggles knowing they produce good in us. Being transparent with others you trust and know will be in prayer for you is a good thing. It is something I myself am gradually learning to do.
