Grace beyond pain

"If you then have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your​ minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God." Colossians 3:1-3

Parenthood, fitness, cooking, housekeeping, etc. tends to have a nice sheen on it. Even cancer has the band aid slogan "SURVIVOR" to serve as a comfort that coddles those from the outside looking in. It's in our faces EVERYWHERE we go! Magazines, news, billboards, TV, advertisement​s, Pinterest, and in social media as a whole. When you get down to the brass tacks, it's a display of denial and big, ugly pride. I know for myself this is a road that leads to destruction.

I have an appreciation for people that are genuine and transparent about what has been obvious since creation: life is hard and messy. I think a positive message we gain from that honesty is that we're not in this alone! God didn't throw us to the wolves despite our shortcomings. We have a community of allies in this life that have gone before us and who's minds and hearts have made it through in one piece, or ones that are living the hard and messy right there with us.

Walking our mess is beautiful be it cancer, disability, divorce, job loss, infertility, miscarriage, addiction, death of a loved one, etc. Being able to look at the mess and allow it to have its place in our lives is an important and valid lesson to learn. Pain and grief need to have a voice. But even this honesty can easily have its dangers if we don't find a balance. If we give it too much of a stage in our hearts, it can become all we are able to see, further pulling the wool over our eyes. Acknowledging the mess and living in it daily can deceive us into allowing the mess to swallow our hearts whole, resulting in talking about, dwelling in, and dragging other people through it rather than seeking the solution to living a fulfilled life. We've lost relationships due to this sort of imbalance. It destroys hope rather than nurturing healing through the community that God intended.

You know what I appreciate even more than transparency, and personally believe requires the most strength? Embracing our mess enough to see the same raw beauty and ample opportunity WITHIN it that our God sees... and acting on it! My challenge? Push yourself a little further and ask to look through His lens. He will most certainly show you! Living life is more than #burstingthebubble #ranting #keepingitreal #breakingthesilence and taking it upon ourselves to blow the lid off the whole scam. It's breaking through to the other side by finding daily fulfillment and transformation through the Holy Spirit, and sharing that hope with others.

Copyright 2017 ->Renee Sunberg