“People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7 NIV
Now God has filled you with love and surrounded you with deliverance. You’ve accepted His forgiveness and calling into a new you. Your hope, joy, and confidence is returning. You’re ready to emerge from hiding.
When you share your secret with your loved ones, expect some negative reactions to your news. Stand quietly and firmly in the love of God and answer reasonable questions. Apologize sincerely for whatever sorrow, setback, or sacrifice your situation is causing. Give them room to cry, rage, or overreact. Forgive them for what their shock and pain is saying or doing just as you want to be forgiven. They likely don’t mean it. With time they may change their minds or at least their words. Accept it all with grace, and hope they’ll one day be able to do the same for you.
Then live on the outside whatever you and Christ started on the inside. Don’t think too hard about it. Just get started. Don’t look back to your old self, your old ways of thinking and doing and being. You can be what He called you to be. Don’t worry about those you may have to leave behind. You and God are enough. Don’t worry about mistakes, or failure, or a raging dumpster fire. God’s love will catch you again and again if you slip or fall. Don’t worry about overwhelming success, whether hard fought, overnight, or internet viral. God will carry you lower and higher than you think possible and hold you through it all. Enjoy it.
After you finish being who you’re headed for, your family and friends will finally be able to see what you tried to tell them, what they couldn’t see before, what their shock and grief blinded them to. Now their reaction to you may be more genuine. Hopefully they may see your truth and sincerely ask for forgiveness and rally to support you. Prayerfully they’ll be freer to open their own closets to Jesus, and they’ll finally understand you in a better way. Or they may be too proud to admit they were wrong. Greed and envy may hide behind a pretended reconciliation. Tragically all they see in the new you may only confirm their fears or earlier judgement, and nothing may change. Whether you accept them into your life again will be affected by many factors, and it’s a decision only you can make. Just don’t be naive. Either way the new you will find new friends. Your heart will mend and you can love again. And you’ll love yourself. Finally.
Oh God! You see me. The whole me! And you still love me! Thank you. I’m done holding back. Help me be my full self, full of You. Help me share you with the world.
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