The One Where We Get Real

It's okay to not be okay. We are all not okay at some point in our lives. Probably more often than not if we are going to be honest with ourselves about it. Don't pretend you are ok if you are not. God wants the REAL us. God wants us to share our struggles with each other. When other people see you, do they think you have it all together and you are an exemplary Christian who does everything perfectly? I don't believe you are if you are trying to tell me that. We are all imperfect. The devil keeps trying to make us feel like we can't be honest and open and talk about our struggles and imperfections with each other. We aren't supposed to display our dirty laundry hampers. Our trash bins should be safely hidden away. We have to hide all the things others may deem messy or unkept. We feel the need to sweep the dust under the rug and cover it up before people stop by. Hide the garbage can in the garage. Shut the closet doors so the laundry hampers are hidden. God wants the dust exposed and in the open. He wants our hampers of dirty laundry on full display. He even wants our trash all laid out for others to see. He wants us all to know that we are all not okay sometimes. And that it is okay.

Proverbs 16:13 "The king is pleased with words from righteous lips; he loves those who speak honestly."

When we start talking about things we are all going through, we can strengthen each other, encourage each other, and help each other through all the difficult times we face. If you drive a 1980 Chevy or a 2022 Tesla - God does not care. He only cares what is going on in our hearts. Jesus came to earth and suffered. He knows firsthand what we are experiencing. When you know firsthand what someone is experiencing, you share a deeper empathy. You share a deeper compassion. You share a deeper connection. The key is you must know what we are going through in order to go through it together and support each other. We can approach God with our struggles, and He will for sure help us - every time. He will also surround us with people who will give us support, encouragement, and the empathy we need. The devil wants us to be taken down and chained up, but God wants us to be lifted up and free from the chains.

1 Peter 5:9 "Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are."

Do people look at your life and think - wow, I could never be that good. I will never measure up. I won't be able to be like that so I don't want to even try. I don't want to fail so I'm not going to start the race. Do you think that's what God wants? No - the illusion of being a shiny Christian that portrays a perfect life leaves others feel like losers who will never get it right. God wants us to be real. It's time to share each other's weaknesses and struggles. The things we get wrong that God makes right. The things we are still working on and through within ourselves and our lives. We can only get stronger through shared weaknesses. We can only gain a deeper, more real and true relationship with God if we share our weaknesses. Share what we are facing, what we are feeling, what we are trying to tiptoe through this time. We can conquer the enemy's tactics and squash out his lies if we are willing to honestly and openly share our weaknesses. Real, true, and honest connections are made through shared weaknesses.

Proverbs 19:1 "Better to be poor and honest than to be dishonest and a fool."

Negative thoughts are fed to us by the devil all the time. He keeps trying to chain us down and you should not be shocked to hear that he's not going to stop trying. He's not going to stop trying to halt any and all progress of leading people to the true heart of Jesus. He's not going to stop trying to trick us with distractions and detours. If we talk about the struggles we are ALL going through as human beings, we can get through this thing called "life" together and we'll get through it a whole lot better.

Think of negative thoughts and lies the enemy tries to feed us like emails that come in with viruses attached to them. You don't click the link right? NO - you delete the link because you don't want the virus and we've been taught pretty well how to know when it's a trick virus link. Just the same, when a negative thought tries to come into your mind, delete it! There are times when the email link does trick you and ---- oh no!! ----- you've just clicked it! Don't deny it, we've all done it.

Here's the good news. That's why you have virus protection installed. You have a WHOLE TEAM of people ready and waiting to help stomp out the virus for you. If you are tricked into believing a negative thought, there are a whole team of people all around you who are experiencing the same thing and would love to help you stomp out and delete it from your life. More importantly, God is the leader of this team and the evil virus has already lost the battle.

If you are rowing a huge cruise ship with just a single paddle, would it not be easier if there were 100s or even 1000s of other people on the ship with a paddle to help move it? We were not meant to get through life alone. That was not God's intention. We need each other. Life is hard. Life is unpredictable. We need the people God puts in our lives to lean on. To rely on. To be able to be honest and open with . Stop hiding and start sharing.

Do you have a problem with insecurity? Great! Share it - I guarantee you are not the only one. Do you struggle with worry? Wonderful! Let's hear about it - I guarantee there are other people having the same struggles. Do you have a problem with porn? Awesome! Get it out in the open. There are others who struggle with the same temptations and would love to support you and also have your support. Maybe you struggle with loneliness, adultery, regret, lack of confidence, shame, sadness, jealousy, materialism, wasteful spending, alcohol, drugs, anger, forgiveness, stubbornness....whatever it may be in your life. Getting our struggles out in the open and sharing them with each other loosens the grip on the chains. It sets a release in motion. It is the first baby step towards freedom. Freedom to keep moving forward with God and all His plans for your life. Freedom to be released from the chains holding you down. We ALL have struggles of some kind in our lives and we ALL know people who have the exact same or at the very least very similar struggles, we just don't talk about it.

Why?

Aren't we all human? Aren't we all on the same earth facing the same but different things? Who are we trying to impress? God knows already so we are not hiding anything from Him. God didn't call us to be fake faces for each other. God teaches us to be honest, love each other unconditionally and help each other break the chains holding us down.

Perhaps it's time to stop and consider talking to each other instead of pretending we have it all together. It might be refreshing to try honesty with ourselves as well as with everyone around us. I can hear the chains of bondage breaking already. Can you?

Jeremiah 5:3 "Lord, you are searching for honesty. You struck your people, but they paid no attention. You crushed them, but they refused to be corrected. They are determined, with faces set like stone; they have refused to repent."

Instead of sweeping the dust under a rug and hiding the dirty laundry and trash bins, it's time to get out the dustpan, clear the trash, and clean the laundry. Stop the devil's plans. Let's start being real and working together instead of pretending. Let's chisel the stone off our faces. Let's start loving the way Jesus loved and pray and trust God with all our hearts - let's start doing it more together than ever before.

Psalm 32: 2 "Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt, whose lives are lived in complete honesty!"