If your life looks anything like mine, you know that most of the time there is a “you” that is there for others—problem is, it’s often not the “real” you.
The “you” at work doesn’t have permission to tell others that you don’t know how you’re going to make payroll, or your plans to let some of them go if business doesn’t pick up. As a supervisor or owner, you can’t let them know how much this economy frightens you.
Every leader or coach realizes that the “you” who stands in front of your team must not sweat…even when the challenges or the failures make you feel like you’re going to throw up.
A dad struggling with self-doubt or regret knows he can’t let it show. The “you” at home doesn’t have permission to ask the children to “help daddy through this crisis.”
You single moms know that there is a “you” that is always on. If your children had any hint at what’s really going through your mind late at night when you finally get to bed—the desperation, the loneliness, the exhaustion—their little lives would be wounded even more.
A husband’s shielding love presents the “you” that assures the wife of your confidence in God…even when your heart is screaming, “What do we do, Lord?”
A wife’s devoted love asks God for the courage to be the “you” that supports her husband’s tough decisions…even when you’ve voiced your reservations and your heart is crying out to the Lord, “What if this isn’t what we should do? How can we know this doesn’t put us at risk?”
But there is one place that is different, that place where you and I never have to be the impressive me, the confident me, the strong me, or the “spiritual” me—it is the only place safe enough to totally let down our guard.
It’s the safest place in the universe.
A place to be me.
A place where we meet the Living God and boldly trust Him with who we really are and all that is in our heart—our good and our bad, our strong and our weak, our confidence and our doubts, our victories and our heartbreaks, our praises and petitions.
A place the Bible calls a throne of grace…the place where the “real you” is always welcome.
“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in our time of need.” –Hebrews 4:16
