Naked and Afraid

Everybody does it from time to time. Maybe it will be your turn today. Hanging out with your friends, hiding behind a fragile curtain, and hoping nobody notices.

There is a television show called "Naked and Afraid." I've never watched it but the title of the show says quite a bit about us humans.

We like to put on a brave face. We don't want other people to know our pain. In reality though we go through life collecting scars. Sometimes the scars are visible but most of the time they simply can't be seen. And we often go to great lengths to keep those scars concealed. Rarely do we open ourselves up to others but that's exactly what we should do.

This past Saturday I was at our local food pantry. The volunteer work I do there allows me to interact with everybody who comes the place. I love it. God always seems to provide something or someone worthy of remembrance on any particular day. Saturday was no exception.

This month it was a grandmother - the mom of a mom. A friend for ten years. When I asked her how she was doing I received a smile. In most cases, this is the typical response for a human who is hurting but desires to keep it quiet. However I KNEW this person and I could ell something was not quite right, so I continued to press a bit and the curtain came down. Why? Because she trusted me.

I heard a story of her daughter, a mom with three kids, who has had a rough life. The dad in the family left her daughter and grandkids all alone. The layers of camouflage gradually fell away until my friend was effectively, emotionally, naked and afraid.

How many of the people that we meet each day actually carry pain and struggles like my friend's? More than we think, I think.

The Bible tells us that sharing one another's burdens is something that we should do (Gal 6:2). God knows that pain is something that should be treated. Even prevented. But we always try to handle things on our own - often for the rest of our lives. It's a pride issue. Leaving that pain untreated, the burden left un-shared, can cause other problems down the road.

We ourselves need to come before the Lord naked and afraid. We must remove our barriers in our prayers and reveal the pain we have in OUR lives. Jesus wants to share them, even remove them. But we must trust and not be afraid. We must open up our hearts to Jesus.

Before my friend left the food pantry that day I prayed with her. After I said Amen and opened my eyes, I watched as my friend wiped away her tears and looked up at me and said, "Thank you."

Chances are we will meet someone today who is hurting like my friend was. Will we take the time to find out what's wrong and to pray? And will that person be willing to open up and share? God knows.

Which ever role we play today - the person sharing or the person caring - let us do so boldly and unashamed. We might just find a life-ling friend. We might actually save someone's life without even knowing it. And we will for sure make God smile.

"9 Two are better than one,
    because they have a good return for their labor:

10 If either of them falls down,
    one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls
    and has no one to help them up.

11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
    But how can one keep warm alone?

12 Though one may be overpowered,
    two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken." - Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

Open Up Your Heart - Out of Eden