“When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.” (Psalm 32:3)

How easy it is to glibly say “I’m fine” when someone asks, “How are you doing?”

In today’s blog, you and I are prohibited from saying “I’m fine” unless it means we are Frustrated, Insecure, Neurotic and Exhausted. ¹

Years ago, I learned a lesson from a good brother in Christ when I did not glibly say “I’m fine” when he asked me “Why are you in despair?”  That opened a chance to deal with the issues and frustrations I faced back then as a single man. There were no quick answers, but it was one step forward in a growing process that takes a lot of time—years later, it’s not done yet  and won’t be completed this side of glory! But if I had only smiled on the outside and said, “I’m fine” the chance to grow would have been choked off in a stranglehold.

Even now, it is still a temptation to slip back into quickly saying “I’m fine” again. Writing this post is a reminder for me and an encourager for you. As the Psalmist said, there’s no need to keep silent and groan. We do need someone we can trust enough to be open with when we are Frustrated, Insecure, Neurotic and Exhausted!  Someone who does not say “Oh, come now! You’re a Christian! You shouldn’t be feeling and reacting that way!” Then we can have a culture of vulnerability, and ask people, and have them ask us, “How are you really doing?”

What a refreshing change—from projecting an image of what you think a godly Christian should  be like—to showing your real self and being able to grow into what a godly Christian is really  like.

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