Early in my faith, I had the dangerous belief that Christians were only supposed to be happy. And thus, when I experienced sadness, loneliness, fear, and depression, I was afraid to be honest about the pain. I identified with Brennan Manning in Ruthless Trust, “Sensing that if I bare my soul, I will be abandoned by my friends and ridiculed by my enemies, I remain in hiding, borrowing the cosmetic kit to put on my pretty face.” I ended up suffering in isolation.
Thankfully the more I study scripture and do inner healing work, the more I realize that God desires us to bring our full selves as we seek the Triune God. We are to bring our laments and our joys; our ugliness and our beauty. Furthermore, God gives us one another. We are called to weep with each other, rejoice with each other, and to build each other up. This is one of the most important parts of being the church.
