Are you transparent with yourself, God, and others?  I believe we live in a society where we are so connected with people via internet and social media that we have lost some of the accountability of someone really seeing us on a daily basis and knowing every quirk we have even when we don’t realize we have a quirk.  We are so busy taking our kids to soccer and music lessons or doing our jobs that we have lost the art of true entertaining and socializing face to face.  This leaves a lot of room for transparency issues.  I believe it all starts with us. God already knows who we are, so we don’t really have to be transparent with Him as much as we have to be honest and transparent with ourselves of who we really are.  It’s only at that time that we can truly be transparent with God (from our perspective) and then with others.Life is full of questions and events that sometimes make no sense.  Have you ever wondered why things happen in life or perhaps why they happen to you?  There is a major earthquake and thousands die.  There are bombs that end innocent lives.  It all seems so random and yet the pain can, at times, cut to our very core.  I think of diseases I’ve been gifted with in my lifetime, sicknesses my children live with daily, or the death of a friend’s child.  I’ve seen pastors hurt by their churches or church people hurting other church people.  There are ladies who give themselves up on the streets because they know no other way.  Some people turn to addictions trying to fill a void, whether through alcohol, drugs or food.  Why?  I want to say “I don’t know,” but I do know.  We live in a sin-filled world…not the one God intended for us.

So many questions seem to go unanswered.  What we need to realize is that many of our questions throughout life and, even in specific circumstances, are based on our expectations not being met.  What are your expectations of your life?

What do you expect from your spouse and/or family?  What do you expect people to do for you?  What do you expect to do for others?  All these expectations lead us to questioning when a situation goes differently than what we had planned.  When these times of questioning happen to us, we need to step back and be honest and transparent with ourselves, God, and others.  What is going on within our very soul will affect every part of our lives, whether we admit to it or not.  Are you ready to join me on the road of transparency?© 2013 Susan M. Sims

Photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net / Just2shutter

Follow me on Twitter or Facebook.