In the late 50s, a group called The Platters had a hit song called “The Great Pretender.” Its lyrics speak about pretending to be all perfect on the outside but being broken on the inside.

Not wanting anyone to see the hot mess underneath, they put on a happy face and declared “all is well” to the world when asked how they were doing. I wonder how many of us are following suit today.

Perhaps we are going through a health struggle or maybe a trial on our jobs. It might be that finances are keeping us up at night or maybe a wayward child. Whatever it is, we know that the only answer is to cast our cares at the feet of Jesus because He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7).

Yet what does that actually look like in real life? It’s not like we can put all of our cares in box and hand deliver it to Jesus – at least not physically. But here’s what we can do.

We can begin by admitting that we do not have all of the answers. We are not all knowing and we could use some help to deal with the challenges in our lives. Second, we can discern if any of these trials are because of our own doing. Did we make a poor decision and now we are reaping the consequences. Lastly, we can look up Scriptures about our situation and see what God has to say about it.

For example:

• If we have sickness or some affliction in our body, we can declare that Jesus has healed us of all of our diseases (1 Peter 2:24).
• If we are having financial difficulties, we can declare that God is our Provider (Philippians 4:19).
• If we are trying to handle it on our own, we can call upon friends to help us (Proverbs 18:24) either by just sitting and listening, offering a potential solution, or agreeing with us in prayer.

You see, we were not designed to live this life on our own. God gave us friends and family that we can lean on in tough times during our time on earth. And He also gave us His Son and the Holy Spirit to help us.

And guess what? We can’t hide anything from God! He sees everything – the good, the bad, and the ugly. But you know what? He loves us anyway!

You see, once you get a revelation of the love of God, His forgiveness, His mercy, and His grace, you

 can turn over your entire life to Him knowing that He will help you through anything.

Our Father in heaven is always waiting for us to knock on His door, wave the white flag, and say “I need help.” He will never say “no.” He will never say “I’m too busy.” He’ll never say “Can you call so and so?” Nope.

Unlike us mere mortals, God does not pretend. He is who He says He is. And… what He is, is pure, unconditional love for us.

You don’t have to pretend to be something you’re not to God because, to quote Mr. Billy Joel: “He loves you just the way you are.”

And He’s not pretending!

P.S. If you would like to learn more about how to have a real relationship with God through His Son Jesus, then I invite you to watch or listen to the Elevate The Day Podcast, “God Wants To Fellowship With You.” Let God take care of your cares!