Exposing Darkness

“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” – James 5:16

About a year ago I was asked if I could lead devotionals for a women’s small group that I attend. I joyfully accepted and began to pray and ask God for guidance on what to speak about. I bounced a few ideas around, browsed for potential topics, but nothing seemed to stand out. It wasn’t until I came across the verse listed above that God began to reveal what He wanted me to talk about. The word “transparency” kept coming to mind. To be transparent means to allow light to pass through so that what lies behind can be distinctly seen. “Okay…” I thought, “I’ll give it a shot.” As I warmed up to what this could potentially mean, He began to reveal more details to me. “I want you to share your testimony with these women. The real, raw, unedited version. I want you to be completely transparent with them,” God spoke to me. Fear began to rise. “What would they think of me? Would they judge me because of my past? Would they look down on me, and think of me as less of a Christian?”, I thought to myself. “After all, I’m supposed to have it all together. What will their response be when they learn that I still struggled even after salvation?”

Have you ever had these thoughts before? Scared to share how God brought you through something because it will expose all of your hidden struggles, and the shame, guilt and condemnation that came with them? Any discussion of sin and struggle after salvation makes people uncomfortable, so it’s avoided. There is this preconceived idea that salvation brings an easy life, free of these things that we find ourselves still struggling with. That isn’t Biblical, though. In John 16:33, Jesus says “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” I find comfort in this verse, knowing that Jesus Himself knew that we would face things in the course of our life that would cause us to struggle. Just because we get saved, doesn’t mean we are exempt from this. So what do we do with it? Let’s take a look.

Have you ever heard the term “The Great Commission?” It’s basically our goal as Christians–to take the gospel of Jesus to a lost and dying world. How do we do that? One way I can think of (and focus on for the purpose of this post) is by sharing our testimony. What exactly does that mean? To share our testimony means to share with others how God has changed our lives, and brought us from death to life. Yes, this includes the messy, dark places of our lives that we’d rather not discuss and leave hidden.

Let’s recall the definition of the word transparent that I mentioned earlier. To be transparent means to allow light to shine through so that what lies behind can be distinctly seen. Where does this light come from? John 8:12 says “And Jesus spoke to them, saying, “‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.'” The light comes from Jesus. Jesus is the light shining from behind all of those dark times, strengthening us and helping us to grow through them. When we share our testimony, and confess our shortcomings to others, we open the door and allow the light of Jesus to shine through the darkness and expose Himself underneath the mess. For our good and His glory!

Isn’t that the purpose of light–to drive out darkness? Matthew 5:15-16 says “Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” As long as we keep our mouths shut and keep things to ourselves, the light will do no good and will reach no one. If we begin to be more intentional about being transparent with those in our sphere of influence, we will reach a whole lot more people for the Kingdom. We will allow the light to reach more darkness in the world. We have to break down the false idea that Christians just don’t understand what it’s like to struggle. I will be the first to say, I do! We are all uniquely created, with a unique purpose that only we can fulfill. Our stories, our testimonies, can reach specific people that the testimonies and experiences of others may not be able to.

Today, I encourage each of you to start small. Pick a trusted friend, brother/sister in Christ, colleague, etc. to be transparent with and share your testimony. You’ll be surprised by how much boldness you receive for breaking the silence and shining the light of Jesus. I pray that God will strengthen all who read this to be able to take that step. Through your transparency, I pray that each of you will continue to receive healing over each of these areas. God bless.