I can't even begin to describe the freedom that comes with honesty. Maybe I'm the only one who struggles with this, but when the hard times hit, I somehow believe that isolation will protect me and I'll be better off dealing with it alone.
I believe this is how Satan lies. He wants me to believe I am the only one. I am the only one who doubts. I am the only one who fears. I am the only one who struggles, who gets angry, who fails. Who sins.
So I put on my protective armour and think no one knows and the lie self-perpetuates. But when I shut down and withdraw I am not self-protecting. I am self-destructing.
But oh, how I sense the arms of Jesus when I open up and make myself vulnerable! The stories I hear of struggles not too dissimilar to mine, that I would otherwise never have known. We all have different issues. Yours may not be the same as mine, but they're just as big to you as mine are to me. And I draw such strength in knowing that others are walking the road with me or have been healed and are victorious.
It truly is in our weakness that He is made strong. He is the only one who can penetrate the walls of self-protection I erect. He is the only one who can speak truth through the negative thoughts in my mind. He is the only one who can reach out and take my hand and lead me forward when all I want to do is retreat. He is the only one who loves me enough to get past my very rejection of Him and love me through to wholeness.
He is the only one who can truly protect me.
I am praying that He will solidify this thought in my heart so I can write more about it in the coming days. Because I am now certain that I am not the only one.