Nick was telling me a joke the other day that I wanted to share …

He said, "What did the man say when his left arm and left leg were cut off?" He said, "I'm all RIGHT!"  LOL!!!

You can always count on a good joke from a middle schooler … Of course, most of the time it involves someone or something being shot, mamed or mangled, but the message manages to be a good one.  That joke makes me laugh but there is so much truth in it. I wonder how many of us respond this same way.  We are walking around, maybe not with half our body parts missing, but with major problems. Real issues. Real concerns. The sort of things that cause you to lie awake at night … Yet when the world asks us how we are doing, we answer with a "painted grin" and proclaim, "I'm all right."

I think about the Casting Crown's song, "Stained Glass Masquerade"…the lyrics go something like this, "Are we happy plastic people under shiny plastic steeples? When I take a look around, everyone seems so strong.  So I tuck it all away, like everythings okay.  With a painted grin, I play the part again."

I think there are more stained glass masquerades than we would like to admit. I would guess that most of the time we are "happy plastic people" sacheting through our shiny plastic worlds. It is sad. Why?  Because the world looks at us and think that we have it altogether. They assume that we are ALL Right … and they have no choice but to suppose that our God can only save those who are already fixed!  That He can only save those that appear not to need saving. They can't fathom a Savior who has the power and authority to lift them out of the miry clay … They can't imagine how it feel to be delivered from their pit of despair. 

They cannot identify with David's words:

Ps 40: 1-3

"I waited patiently for the LORD; 
he turned to me and heard my cry. 
He lifted me out of the slimy pit, 
out of the mud and mire; 
he set my feet on a rock 
and gave me a firm place to stand. 
He put a new song in my mouth, 
a hymn of praise to our God. 
Many will see and fear the LORD 
and put their trust in him."

David cried out these words after spending some time in the proverbial "miry clay." He was a murderer, adulterer and remained silent when his son raped his daughter. I'd say that's a big 'ole smelly pile of mire. Yet, he was delivered. These verses are the praise of a man who has tasted forgiveness and mercy. He was far from ALL right, yet God found him in the mess that he had made of his life and "lifted" him out of the "slimy pit." Can't you just feel how much David loved Him?

If you can't be real with anyone else then at least be honest before God. The Bible says that we are to cast our cares on Him. At the very least, be truthful with Him. Tell Him that you aren't all right! Confess that you don't have it altogether.

And then take one more step and be real with people. Be honest about where God has brought you from and ALL that he has brought you through. Share ALL that God has done in your life and ALL that he has delivered you from – not to say that you are now magically ALL right, but that every day that the sun comes up you choose to serve a God who is ALL Mighty, ALL Powerful, ALL Knowing  and ALL Faithful ... and because of your faith in Him, you have confidence that you will be ALL Right as you step aside and let him work ALL things together for his glory.

If we can convey that message to those who God places in our path then I believe Ps 40:3 will occur … "Many will see and fear the LORD and put their trust in him."