Scenario A: If you have ever been to a play or worked on a play or any performance, you know there are a lot of things that go on “behind the scenes.” There are sometimes double the people you see out front scurrying around in the back getting things where they need to be and taking care of technical things. The “scene” might look amazing and the “stars” may as well, but the real stars are everyone who worked together to make it happen, not just the people out front.

Scenario B: You surely have seen someone who created a picture perfect world either in real life or on social media. The posts are all coordinated and perfect and everyone looks darling but what it really took to get to that was some ugliness. The “behind the scene” is the sad reality. And the drive to present something completely different overtakes their life.

Scenario C: Maybe you have heard the fictional story about the person who talks to God about what a disaster their life is. They are comparing it to the “backside” of something like an embroidery project that is not designed to be viewed from that angle. And God reassures them that He sees their life from the top side. They are only seeing their life from “behind the scenes” with an awareness of the difficulties when He looks at all and what He is doing to bring it together to be something beautiful.

We all have things going on “behind the scenes”. Some of it is good, some of it is bad, some of it is neutral. Being a real person doesn’t necessarily mean you show every person every wart you have. But having a few people in your life where you can be real is really important.

God knows our hearts and longs for us to express our fears, failures, excitement, disappointments — all of it. There are trustworthy people out there to share with, too. When we are vulnerable and share the difficulties of our days with others, it helps them see our humanity and invites them to share theirs as well.

There are times we may have to “take the stage” and act as if things aren’t difficult, depending on the situation. But let’s not let that be the general way we are. Then reality gets confusing for everyone!

Psalm 139 is such a great place to start for real, honest conversation with God. He loves you and wants you to bring it all to him: the good, the bad, and the ugly. He is sure to work in and through us with it all to make something beautiful.