I Feel It Too

It's so easy just to tell someone that everything is great or you're having a good day when somebody asks you how things are going. Why do we feel this sort of pressure to act like we have it all together? To make it seem like we can do it on our own? Especially when we know that we can do nothing on our own; how prideful would it be to say that we could? (John 15 talks about this).



I remember a conversation I had with a good friend named Tim Henderson once. We were standing in the Junior hallway just before the school bell rang to begin the day. He turned and looked at me with sort of a forced smile on his face and sagging shoulders that told a story of hardship. He asked the same question that everybody asks when you talk to someone you haven't seen in a day or two: "How are you doing?" Of course you are supposed to respond with a positive "I'm great! How about you?" and move on as if all of that was just a computers automated response to the "How are you" button and not actually a real question. My answer was of course that everything was going well. I returned that same question to Tim and his response was the same. As soon as I heard him say that, I immediately felt fake; just like a robot with no heart. I turned back to him and asked him if we could start over. We both knew we had lied to one another about the condition of our hearts. Before I had gotten to school that day, I had a terrible fight with my father; I had been on the verge of tears all morning. Tim confessed that he was not honest either. On our way to homeroom, we were able to talk to one another about what we were going through so that we could be praying for each other.



I share this story only because it reminds me of how there is no real reason to pretend like I have it all figured out and that life is perfect. Who honestly has a perfect life? On that note, the hard times that we go through are all for a reason. Maybe the Lord is trying to wake you up and show you how much you need Him - tell someone about it. There is freedom in honesty. How is the condition of your heart? I want the honest truth.



Lord, thank you that you are made perfect in my weakness.



Yours truly, Lauren