I let out a loud SHRIEK of a SCREAM, while my body shook, as my youngest daughter jumped out in front of me, as I  entered our kitchen. I was in deep thought. She has this thing about scaring people. I wasn’t prepared for her face to be so close to mine. Who hasn’t experienced an encounter with someone who gets way too close, and you may have even said, “You’re in my bubble! Back off!” 

We don’t like it when a person gets “way up in our business”. However, maybe some people need to have their bubble burst. Sometimes, God allows that to happen to take us to a new level of intimacy with Him. Pardon my French, but, a lot of men suck at relationships with other men. Yeah, we are hard nuts to crack. It’s okay to discuss a game, or the weather, but real life and spiritual stuff? 

In Scary Close, Donald Miller writes:

“Can you imagine coming to the end of your life, being surrounded by people who loved you, only to realize they never fully knew you? Or having poems you never shared or injustices you said nothing about? Can you imagine realizing, then, it was too late? How can we be loved if we are always in hiding?”

Consider David, the Renaissance Man. He was not only a man’s man, killing bears, lions and numerous enemies, as a warrior, but he refused to hide from acknowledging his feelings, evidenced in his vulnerable and poetic Psalms.

Besides David venting his true self to God, would he have survived without the encouragement of another man, by the name of Jonathan? He was David’s closest friend. Since Jonathan’s father was King Saul, who was mentally unstable, that fact alone could have put a wrench in their friendship. Saul was jealous of David’s military success. Regardless, I Samuel 18 reads:

“After David had finished talking with Saul, he met Jonathan, the king’s son. There was an immediate bond between them, for Jonathan loved David. From that day on Saul kept David with him and wouldn’t let him return home. And Jonathan made a solemn pact with David, because he loved him as he loved himself. Jonathan sealed the pact by taking off his robe, and giving it to David, together with his tunic, sword, bow and belt.” (1-4, NLT)

Just as much as women need other women, men also need other men in their lives. Wise ‘ol Solomon said, “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.” (Proverbs 27:17, RSV) 

Maybe it feels like you are too far gone and lost, because of your problems, which makes you think, “So why should I open up to another person?” 

Yeah, we all get naked most every day, but if we refuse to “bare” our soul to God, or to anyone else, then we are not really naked. Miller continues, and also brings it home, “What if part of God’s message to the world was you? The true and real you?”