Share the ugly

We have been talking a lot about sharing the ugly… and frankly, it has been sitting heavy on my heart.

In case you hadn’t noticed, I am passionate about the need for us to be sharing our stories.
His story…
and sometimes that means sharing the ugly.

Okay, okay… let’s be honest.
A lot of times, that means sharing the ugly.

In fact, as I have dug through scripture and continued to mull over this whole idea of sharing the ugly – I have become more convinced that if we don’t share the ugly, we can’t share the beautiful.

Yep. I know.
That is something we have talked about quite a bit here…
and here.
Here too.

But what has become heavy on my heart is that although I think we need to be sharing ‘the ugly’… our weaknesses… our hurts…
I can’t help but wonder if it can become a complaining fest.

Do you know what I mean?

Misery likes company… and although sharing our struggles encourages others to do the same, we need to be careful to not fall into the trap of focusing on these things.

If we just share the ugly than we miss out on the whole point of it!

If we don’t share the ugly…
We can’t share the beautiful!

But, the whole reason for the ugly is so that we can experience the beautiful!

Remember the story of Lazarus? We talked about it here… Jesus LET His friends fret over Lazarus’ death. He LET them experience big ugly so they could see what beauty He could transform it too.

I have to admit… I think I have been focused a wee bit on the ugly in my life.

So, I say…

Let’s remember the ugly… but, focus on the beauty this week!

Let’s start TODAY by looking at our King’s promises.

I’m clinging to this promise today…

John 1:16-18 (The Message)
We all live off his generous bounty,
gift after gift after gift.
We got the basics from Moses,
and then this exuberant giving and receiving,
This endless knowing and understanding—
all this came through Jesus, the Messiah.
No one has ever seen God,
not so much as a glimpse.
This one-of-a-kind God-Expression,
who exists at the very heart of the Father,
has made him plain as day.

We live off of His gift
after gift
after gift…

We live off of His beauty
after beauty
after beauty

What an amazing God we have who loves us so!

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This post is part of the 31 Day Challenge: My Ugly, His Beautiful. You can follow along here.

Care to join in on the writing challenge? The Nester is putting it on – you can learn more here.