No One Really Knows

And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. Mark 10:18

We may appear to others as if we have no troubles in this life and we are ‘good’ Christians. But no one can truthfully say they have no problems. And only God is truly good. We are often hiding so many burdens we forget that God loves us and knows our every need.  We forget to lay them at the foot of the cross and leave them there for His goodness to deal with. We pick them up over and over again and pretend that all is well.

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! Psalms 34:8

We make our lives more difficult than they need to be in Christ. We do not take refuge in the Lord or with each other. We continue to react as we did before Christ came into our hearts. We worry about things we have no control over. We try to change things that we cannot change and that may, in fact, be none of our business.  Instead of allowing God to work in us and leaving Him to do what needs to be done, we jump in and cause ourselves a great deal of stress.  Still we want to appear as “good” Christians, with no problems, wise and calm amid the stormy sea. 

What is man, that he can be pure? Or he who is born of a woman, that he can be righteous? Job 15:14

No person on this earth can ever have it all together. Only God is good and only Christ was perfect. God’s goodness and love through the Holy Spirit can help Christians deal with life differently than non-believers.  We don’t have to pretend to show the light of Christ to a dying world, we can actually show it.

Man’s goodness is based on divine goodness. There is no “good” without God’s goodness inside us through the Holy Spirit.  Where the world struggles and become angry, with God’s goodness we can be calm and loving. Because of His goodness in us, we can show light to the world instead of darkness and calm instead of panic. 

(for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true) Ephesians 5:9

More mature Christians, or those who have known the Lord for a long time may appear to have it more together than the rest of us, but the only difference between a mature Christian and a new Christian is how much we allow Christ to be the center of our lives and how much we trust His care and divine goodness. Mature Christians should realize that sharing their experience and hope is more helpful than hiding them. 

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2

When other people’s lives seem perfect, remember that this world is not good, and those people live here too. Appearance is not always truth. We can encourage them not to hide behind a false face of ‘goodness’. 

Renewing our minds with His word and knowing the true difference between God’s ‘good’ and what the world perceives as ‘good’ is a way that God eases our burdens and brings us through our trials. Or we can pretend that all is well, and no one will ever need to know.  This is not what God wants for His children.

We want to be honest Christians, surrounding ourselves with the good and perfect things of God, His word, His people, His worship, and His praise. Looking as though we have no problems is not the goal.

A Christian’s goal is to behave as God would have us behave, to be kind, to avoid evil, sin, and the appearance of sin. We are fallible people trying to deal with life with God’s guidance, with His love, goodness, and compassion, having faith the He is working for our good. The world should see that we care for each other, that we show a calm strength, trust in the Lord, love for humanity, and the ability to deal with life without panic and fear. 

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.  Hebrews 10:24-25

Keeping our struggles to ourselves and not joining together with other Christians will certainly mean that no one knows that we are not perfect, but it will also ensure that we will not grow in the Lord or be of help to anyone else.  No one will come to us for help if we don’t have any problems of our own.

Christianity is not about how we look to others, it is about loving God, loving others, showering the world with His goodness, and allowing the body of Christ to know our struggles so that we can lift each other up

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God is good.  He cares for us and although you may not allow others to know what is going on with you, you can be sure that God does.