Joining in with other writers for Alene Snodgrass’s summer study.
As Moses sought to free his people, Pharaoh gave him resounding no’s. Ten times! And the no’s were accompanied by plagues. Real deal plagues.
Fight through the opposition because others are counting on us.
If we hide in our struggles, fears and hardships we create a veneer of perfection. When hurting people approach the church and see only ‘perfect people’ our witness of God’s grace suffers.
When I was young, my family liked a TV show that only ran for one season. “Eerie, Indian,” was about a boy living in “the center of weirdness for the universe.” In one episode, a mother keeps her twins young by having them sleep in Tupperware every night. Creepy, I know.
That picture always stuck with me. How often do we try to Tupperware our lives into perfect.
Why is it so hard to be real? I don’t know, but it is. We want to be strong, beautiful, successful, intelligent, best-of, creative… When really in many moments our lives are un-pin-able. If you read my about page, you can find my story to this place that I stand now. Not perfectly, but in God’s grace and I am thankful. Admitting that we struggle too, is not easy. (I eat candy in a secret corner of my kitchen.)
Life is plague-worthy hard. Some seasons cripple. We struggle. We do not walk around photo-shopped. Sometimes things just are not fair and pain happens.
God uses thes things in our lives, even though that is hard to understand sometimes. One of the strongest ways he uses real is to touch the lives of others. Sharing real deepens our relationships, my closest friendships are those in which I can share my struggles. Even for close friends this is sometimes not easy, but receiving a prayer request or a plea helps my heart grow stronger. I know I’m someone that friend feels comfortable sharing their not-perfect moments with and that is everything to me.
How can you step out of what is easy and share real this week? You can always share here, we’ll understand and pray.
Why do you think sharing your struggles helps those on the edges of the church?
About Proximity 