ANONYMOUS

My story's just too ugly to be told in public places. 
It'll make you gasp, or cringe, or blush uncomfortably. 
It'll probably make you angry, and rightfully so. 
I was controlling, cold-hearted, and cared only for myself. 
I left a trail of destruction in my wake too.

It wasn't just my own life I threw away--no, 
innocent lives, too, I left in shambles. 
My story's just too ugly to share the grimy details. 
If you hear it, it'll stain your soul with hopelessness. 
It's better if you hear my story in abstract terms. 

I'll tell you I was broken, but I'll just leave it there. 
I'll tell you that I caused some pain, but nothing more. 
You'll hear how I understand the harm I've done, 
how I hold myself accountable now. 
You'll smile warmly because you're safe from the real mess.

"God is good!" You'll say, because you hear I've changed. 
"God redeems!" You'll cry, content with formless hope. 
Redeemed from what? A selfish state? A hopeless future?
How could you really know? My story is intangible.
You don't even know me, for I am Anonymous. 

But I have a name, and I have a story.
My name is "Everyone," for we all have ugly stories. 
Some uglier than others, but all with redemptive potential. 
God is good--not because of who I am now, 
but because of Who He has always been.

God redeems, from selfishness and hopelessness, 
but from the power and devastation of sin too. 
My story may be messier than you can handle, 
but you'll never know how great is God's redemption
unless you know from what I'm saved. 

You might not know my name, 
but you know the Name of Who redeemed me. 
My sin was great, but my Savior is greater. 
And from my ugly, anonymous story, God
wrote a new story, and gave me a new name.