Stop Pretending: God Wants the Real You

• By candidasullivan
• October 2, 2025
• No Comments

Why do we pretend to be okay when we feel like we are dying inside?

I can’t even tell you the number of times I have pretended to be okay, even though I felt like I was dying inside. So many times, I declared that I was fine when I felt the turmoil raging inside of me. I felt that declaring my true feelings was a sign of weakness, and I didn’t want to appear weak.

So I stuffed the painful emotions inside of me, smiled on the outside, and pretended everything was just fine.

But here’s the truth: when we pretend to be okay when we are not, we prevent ourselves from overcoming our hardships. We must recognize that there is a problem before we can overcome it. We can’t truly pray as long as we convince ourselves that we are fine.

The enemy wants us to stay in a place of pain and drown in our sorrows. He wants us to ignore everything wrong in our lives and drift through our days. Satan wants us to believe that things will never get better. As long as we think things are as good as they will get, we don’t try to change them. And this is how he defeats us.

However, when we decide that we will no longer tolerate our circumstances, then we can take the necessary actions to overcome them. When we take our hardships to God, He will show us how to overcome each one. He can show us how to thrive in our lives instead of just surviving.

Learning to be honest with God and myself has been powerful in my life. With God, I don’t need to pretend. After all, He knows exactly where I am. When I can share it all, the good and the bad, with Him, God will help me. There is such power when we call His name.

Here are a few simple ways to be honest with God:

• Pray exactly what’s on your heart, even if it’s messy.
• Journal your feelings and let your words pour out to Him.
• Speak scripture over your situation.
• Reach out for prayer and let others stand with you.

If you are struggling, sweet friend, call His name. Tell Him all about your struggles. God doesn’t need us to be strong when we talk to Him; He wants us to be honest. It’s in the raw, vulnerable moments that we connect with the Lord.

Isaiah 65:24 KJV
24 And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.

You don’t have to carry it all alone. God already sees, already knows, and already loves you.