"Being Brave--Authenticity!"

⁴² “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” ⁴³ Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened him. ⁴⁴ He prayed more fervently, and he was in such agony of spirit that his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood.  

Luke 22:42-44 

In this week’s study on being brave, our focus is on being authentic. How many of you have that drawer (or closet, or room) that company is never allowed to see? We had a “junk drawer” in my house growing up, and it’s a habit that I’ve continued in to my adulthood. It is just kind of a catch-all, for those things that don’t seem to have a place to belong, and at times, it has been full to overflowing. We want to look like our lives are all together, and for whatever reason, I think many of us seem to think that allowing people to see that we have “junk” in our house will shatter that appearance of perfection.

And, as true as this is for our homes, I think it’s even more true of our lives. We don’t want people to see the messy parts of our lives, so we keep them hidden. However, it’s in those messy parts that we most often times need some help. If we are struggling with an illness, with an addiction, with feelings of inadequacy (or WHATEVER your struggle is), that is where you need a friend. Galatians 6:2 reminds us to “Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.” However, your friends can’t share the burdens that you keep hidden and refuse to let them help carry.

And think of it in the opposite way. If you have a friend who is struggling, don’t you want to be there for them? Wouldn’t you like the chance to pray for/with a friend, to listen to them, or maybe just to give a quick hug or word of support? Wouldn’t you maybe even feel a little disappointment in knowing that a friend didn’t trust you enough to share that difficulty?

Part of being brave is being authentic. It’s the idea that we don’t have to try to pretend to be perfect, but that we can rest in knowing that we will all face difficulties, and that one of God’s solutions to difficult times is to share them with others. In fact, in the passage above, that’s exactly what Christ did. He was facing a time of extreme difficulty (preparing for His tortuous death), and as He was praying, He brought three of His closest companions to pray along with Him. And while they didn’t exactly do all that He needed (falling asleep on the job), they did come alongside Him and offer what support they could. If Christ needed the support of others during one of the most difficult times of His life, why would we try to walk through a struggle alone?

And, in an even further way of trying to hide our problems, sometimes we refuse to even share them with God. We may feel like we have to earn our way to God, that we have to be cleaned-up or perfect, or performing as a good solider for Christ, before we talk to Him. That is simply not the case. When we hesitate to talk to God about our problems, for ANY reason, we are turning our back on the most powerful way to solve them. And the thing is, He already knows. It’s not like our hesitancy to “let God in” on our struggle actually stops Him from being able to see it. He knows the number of hairs on our head, and He also knows when you are sick, or frustrated, or ready to give up. Talk to Him about it. He wants to be in relationship with you, despite your seeming imperfections. He is waiting to give you peace, if you would simply allow it.

Sharing our struggles, letting others see the junk drawers of our lives, whether it be other people or God, isn’t always easy. Admitting that we have problems, and allowing others to see our often already raw hurts, takes an extreme amount of bravery. However, it is in the authenticity that we are most likely to find some of the healing that we most desperately need, and that God wants for us to have.