What, exactly, is the value of believers in Jesus plastering an “Everything is fine” mask across our faces?
Are we afraid that if we allow someone to see our pain we are letting God down?
And how could that be?
Did not Christ Himself beg the Father in the Garden to take the cup from Him?
Yet we smile and wave and chat our way through encounters with people around us, pretending, pretending, pretending that life is easy when it most certainly is not.
Denying the dark and refusing to acknowledge the depth of our pain diminishes the value of the comfort of Christ.
When David wrote that, “yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, Thou art with me” he understood both the desperate need for and the great assurance of Christ’s Presence.
When we allow others to see our broken hearts, we also bear testimony to the sustaining grace of Jesus.
And we extend an invitation for them to meet this Savior that gives strength and comfort even in the darkest hours and hardest journeys.
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thelifeididntchoose 
As you probably know from my previous articles, I very much agree. Actually, if I want to get right down to it, I would bluntly have to say that when we do ‘put on a face’, we are being liars and hypocrites. Jesus was not One to hide what He felt at any given time nor ‘pretend’. He is Truth and we also must live in that Truth. We need not worry about protecting God’s reputation in our grief. He is very well able to defend Himself. (((HUGS)))
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I actually had this discussion on a bereaved parents’ board. If or when I ever hide the depth of my true feelings, it’s not to protect God’s reputation (that He is not helping or comforting me) nor is it to protect my own (that I am strong or whatever)-it’s usually because I don’t feel like fooling with the reactions or inquiries of other people. ❤
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Yes..that is another reason to do so. The reactions/comments of others can often be wounding. Some I have met have felt pressured at the churches they attend to ‘appear’ a certain way in the midst of their great sorrow. They have been ‘counseled’ to ‘set an example’. It’s a burden they are not meant to carry. (((HUGS)))
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