I have a couple of friends who have undergone amazing transformations recently.  They posted “before & after” pictures of themselves and the results are incredible.

Just today, I had a family member post about a different kind of transformation.  She opened up about her struggles with deep depression, how God got her through it and what she learned about herself in the process.

I had no idea this was an issue for her…until she shared it.

A physical transformation is visible to the world.  An inner change can go unrecognized if we never knew what was there to begin with.

When I first started blogging, some people around me were concerned that I was sharing too much.  It always came down to “What would people think?”…if they knew my marriage wasn’t perfect? If they knew that I don’t have it all together?  If they knew that my emotions get the best of me and my response isn’t “God bless you!” when someone cuts me off in traffic?

What would people think??  My hope is that they would think…and know…that they weren’t alone.

I recently heard about a young couple who divorced. The wife stated that they just couldn’t get along.  When she was told that everyone deals with that, especially initially, her response was…

“I didn’t know.  I thought we were the only ones.”

That broke my heart.  I don’t know all the issues they were dealing with but maybe their marriage didn’t have to end.  If they only knew what they were facing wasn’t unique to them.

In Paul’s letters, he wasn’t shy about listing his credentials when needed but he also had no problem telling the not so pretty parts of his story.  

1 Corinthians 15:9-10 (MSG) “I don’t deserve to be included in that inner circle, as you well know, having spent all those early years trying my best to stamp God’s church right out of existence. But because God was so gracious, so very generous, here I am…”

It wasn’t about Paul…or even the magnitude of his sin…it was about the overwhelming grace of God.

So, to those of you struggling, you are not alone.  Being a Christian doesn’t guarantee a trouble free life but it offers an opportunity to walk with the One who has overcome.  

And to those of us who have come through the valley and have found ourselves on the mountain, give God some praise and give others a helping hand.  Remind them that “because God was so gracious, so very generous, here I am”, and they can get there too.  ~Anu

Photo by John O’Nolan on Unsplash