Looks Can Be Deceiving
I have noticed that people who “seem” to have it all together really don’t. They often just have different struggles going on and few people know about them. I know what it’s like to “fake it until you make it”. I have been there and done that. I firmly believe that everyone will experience struggles, hardship or hurt at some point in their lives. I’m not trying to be negative, but I am trying to keep it real. King David wrote at great length of his struggles, yet he was the greatest king Israel ever had. He is often known as the greatest king who ever lived. He was known as a man after God’s own heart. He pursued God’s heart. He was honest with his struggles and suffering. He was humbled by the prophet Nathan when called out about his sin. He repented of his sin and was broken before the Lord seeking healing. I love King David’s honesty and his writings, because it gives me encouragement, hope and inspiration. My struggles and sufferings are different, but they are still hard. While David appears to have it all together, his writings reveal otherwise. Check this out….
1 Please, God, rescue me!
Come quickly, Lord, and help me.
2 May those who try to kill me
be humiliated and put to shame.
May those who take delight in my trouble
be turned back in disgrace.
3 Let them be horrified by their shame,
for they said, “Aha! We’ve got him now!”
4 But may all who search for you
be filled with joy and gladness in you.
May those who love your salvation
repeatedly shout, “God is great!”
5 But as for me, I am poor and needy;
please hurry to my aid, O God.
You are my helper and my savior;
O Lord, do not delay. (Psalm 70:1-5 NLT)
David needed rescue just like I often need rescue. He still was able to ask for a blessing on all who search for God. He declares himself “poor and needy” asking God to hurry to his aid.
I think it’s wise to be humble and recognize my brokenness. If I act like I have it all together, then I’m really living a lie. My feelings get hurt and my heart gets broken at times. I don’t live a perfect, sinless life. I need the Lord’s forgiveness regularly. I need His grace minute by minute of every single day. If I am of any help to anyone it is by the grace of God. I believe in “broken people helping broken people”. I’m am not proud of my brokenness, nor is it a badge of honor, but it is real and the scars on my heart are not “make-up”. I am simply a man seeking the heart of God in the midst of a broken and decadent culture. I have stumbled and fallen more times than I can count, but the Lord restores me, forgives me and heals me. If anyone thinks I’ve got it all together, then look closer and connect with me – I am broken and flawed. I think recognizing my brokenness is a prerequisite of His healing.
Pressing On!
Dwayne