I knocked on the door with my trembling fist. I stood waiting for the door to open for what felt like an eternity. Standing beside me were three perfect strangers, but I felt safe with them. When the door opened, I saw a man, wrinkled from head to toe, with a large belly hanging over his blue striped boxers. He had a gentle smile, kind eyes, and peppery hair. He invited us inside, gave us the best seats in the house, and offered us the little food and juice he had. This man had no idea why we had come to his place, but he welcomed us like he had been expecting us. After some superficial chatter, I asked if I could share my story with him. I told him about my family, home, and finally, my Savior. I had practiced over and over how to share the gospel, and when I began telling him about Jesus, I thought I was doing a pretty good job. I had brought a tool with pictures to help me. I suddenly felt very confident in what I was doing. But out of nowhere, the man cut me off. He stopped me, took the pictures out of my hand, and said, “Thank you for sharing, but God is telling me that I need to share this story with YOU.”

The houses we visited in Colombia all had lavish decorations on the outside. Each street had all the hustle and bustle of an average American metroplex, with a small-town feel. Red velvet curtains with tassels hung in every window, and the streets were filled with buses, taxis, motorcycles, and mules pulling old, rickety carts headed in every direction. Stoplights and street signs were just suggestions; if traffic were not moving fast enough, a two-lane road would soon become five lanes. Every building was painted a different extravagant color, with salsa music blasting from every street corner. The outside of every house was bright and inviting, but the inside was always empty and dark. This was done to give the appearance they had more.

I soon realized their houses mirrored their relationship with the Lord. They painted up their lives to look like the “good people” we all want to be, but inside, their hearts were empty. On the outside, they had everything, but like many people, they hid their deepest struggles. When we suppress these struggles, we allow the cracks to grow longer, more profound, unmanageable. 

When we try to hide our struggles or burdens, they become heavier than necessary.  Jesus calls us, “Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). He promises to transform us from the inside out. He promises to be the firm foundation on which we stand. We no longer have to hide behind a painted facade because He has taken what was old and broken and made it beautiful. When someone truly understood and accepted the good news, it was like you could see the lights turn on, and their “house” was no longer as dark and empty as it appeared before. Our true beauty is exposed when we put our value in Jesus rather than in other people.