Has there ever been a time in your life when you should have confessed to a burden that you have been carrying?
You have been holding on in selfish-conceit. Maybe fear, doubt or pride has kept you from placing your bondage at the cross or even asking a brother or sister to come along side of you in help.
Like a meek child, you have been afraid all this time. You think that you would seem silly or foolish. You cry out to the Lord, but in trembling smallness.
Psalm 4:1 NIV
Answer me when I call to you,
my righteous God.
Give me relief from my distress;
have mercy on me and hear my prayer.
As an adult it seems as if we should know better, but often times we fall back to childish ways because of insecurities or shame. The boldness that we should have in Christ seems to be tied to the same chains that our doubts are.
Hebrews 4:16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Jesus didn’t die to keep us buried in the ground under dirt of despair, but He came out of love to break us out from the grave. Part of this freedom allows us not only to approach Him with a heart of hope, but to go to our brothers and sisters in times of need. We can come together to build each other up in prayer and service.
Jesus didn't die to keep us buried in the ground under dirt of despair, but He came out of love to break us out from the grave. Click To Tweet1 Kings 8:28 Yet give attention to your servant’s prayer and his plea for mercy, Lord my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence this day.
I have reading through a study in my book club about living a broken life which should allow for the healing bought at the cross. Many women confessed to not allowing others to come along side them in their brokenness. Women who have suffered through the anguish of depression and anxiety admitted to gritting teeth and barreling through their days without asking for a helping hand spiritually, emotionally or even physically. Most concluded that these thing have all sorts of stigma wrapped around them including misunderstanding. There was admittance to the main reason being insecurity on how to approach the subject and how to tell people what they truly needed. The biggest part of this burden was shame.
Shame shouldn’t keep us locked in a cage of brokenness. Stigma shouldn’t push us up against a wall so that we stumble around in the darkness searching for a hold of some sort of hope at the end of the chains we’re tied to. The Lord wants us to come before His throne, but He also made us to live in community with other followers. We are not meant to do life alone, or to shy away from others who are struggling. We need to build and encourage others.
Hebrews 10:24-25 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
I would like to encourage you to seek intentional interactions with people you know are struggling. Lend an ear or a prayer to build up hope in their lives. If it is you who lives in shame of brokenness, please don’t lose sight of the hope at the cross. Don’t get lost in the stigma that people won’t understand. I know it’s hard because I have there and still find myself in a struggle at times. It is hard to be on either side of this, but we need each other. The Lord doesn’t make mistakes by whom He puts into our lives. Sometimes we just need to be brave enough to take the first step.
You will find this post at the Grace and Truth Link-up. Please come by and check it out.
I was just talking with a friend the other day about how I was worried about something all weekend and I didn’t reach out to anyone but should have. I felt so much better when I shared with her and she prayed for me. I even noticed a difference that night in better sleep-something I specifically asked her to pray for-because I was more peaceful. God places us in community so we can support and encourage each other!
So true and something to remember.
Thank you for this encouragement to share our weaknesses and broken places with each other! Sometimes it feels so hard to find a safe place to do that, but I agree with you that we in Christ’s Body need to be willing to be vulnerable with each other and love like HE loves. I am so grateful that He is calling us to let Him lift the shame away from those stigmas that our flesh and the enemy have heaped on us. He is so willing to help us! I am blessed to be your neighbor over at #Sittingamongfriends today!
Than you for your encouraging words. I hope that we can all shed stigmas and shame and come together as you mention. It’s difficult sometimes but the Lord will hold us up.
It’s a sad truth. Many of us are ashamed and afraid to let others see us in a broken stages.We need one another. It’s not God’s will for us to do life alone.
It’s so important to have a support system! It took me some time to finally let people in because of fear of rejection or ridicule but I’m glad I opened up to some of my sister’s in Christ. I have received the best advice I could have gotten from them and most importantly, their prayers have helped me get through the toughest situations.
Thanks for sharing this! I believe it’s a much needed reminder to a lot of us.
Blessings!