Brutal Honesty with God

Here is yet another devotional from Crosswalk that hit real close to home today. I LOVE seeing how God puts things in my path when I need them. If you read my blog last night, you will see how I need to be doing more of this...respectfully and humbly...but be very honest and open with God, instead of suppressing how I feel. I've shared this before but someone once told me throughout all this, "God is a big God, and He can take all your fears, disappointments, anger, etc." Why we think we can't tell Him something when He already knows every inner part of our being is beyond me?! Go have a nice, long talk with God after reading this...

October 8, 2008

Gut-Honest Prayers
Rachel Olsen

"The LORD has heard my cry for mercy; the LORD accepts my prayer."

Psalm 6:9 (NIV)


Devotion:

Have you ever grown frustrated with God over situations in your life? Have you gone to Him and poured out those feelings in prayer?



If so, you'll be able to relate to the prophet Habakkuk, who lived roughly 600 years before Christ. His book of the Bible begins with this complaint: "How long, O Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, "Violence!" but you do not save me. Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong?" (Hab.1:2-3, NIV).



God answered Habakkuk by telling him to be patient and to watch, that He will do amazing things and usher in justice -- but only in His timing.



Passionate, honest, gut-level prayers have been recorded through out the Bible. Habakkuk wasn't the only one to complain. Moses, Gideon, and Elijah all questioned God. Job even cursed the day God made him and said, "I loathe my very life; therefore I will give free rein to my complaint and speak out in the bitterness of my soul." (Job 10:1, NIV).



In his anguish, Job accused God of afflicting people for no reason (Job 9:17), overwhelming them with misery (Job 9:18), and not caring about injustice (Job 9:22, 24). Job even wondered if maybe God was laughing at the pain of the innocent (Job 9:22). None of these accusations are accurate -- far from it -- but we can sometimes feel that way in times of severe suffering or testing. God knows our deepest thoughts and feelings, so it's futile to think we can hide them from Him. Better to come clean with how we really feel, get it off our chest in prayer, and hopefully clear the way to hear and receive God's reply or comfort.



I've complained to God in the past for allowing my loved ones to die or fall deep into sin, for allowing valuable things to be stolen from me, for allowing my reputation to be unfairly tarnished, for allowing physical suffering in my body, or for not allowing what I felt I deserved. My goal is to be a woman of faith who can take such things in stride with Him. But when I'm losing that stride, I've found the best thing I can do is honestly take these feelings to God where they can be traded for His perspective and His comforting assurance.



Though God does not always change my circumstances the way I want Him to, He can and does change my perspective on those circumstances -- enabling me to endure them.



God listens when we complain about injustice. He understands when we feel shortchanged or opposed. Read through the gospel accounts of Jesus' life and you'll be reminded of just how much Jesus can relate to undeserved opposition!



Be honest before God in prayer today. While maintaining a holy respect for Him and thanksgiving for His saving grace, pour out the good, the bad and the ugly of your feelings. As Habakkuk, Job and others discovered, God can handle our intense emotions and questions. He may not explains Himself fully to us -- perhaps because we can't fully understand -- but He will flood us with His love when we come humbly and honestly before Him and pour out our heart.



Dear Lord, it is often hard for me to deal graciously with the difficult situations in my life. Help me to see them through Your eyes. Help me to endure, with grace, all that You allow into my life. Fill me with Your peace and love today. In Jesus' Name, Amen.