When you are down and out, angry, anxious, or depressed, how do you communicate with God, if at all? Do you dare to be honest with him about where you are? Do you feel guilty about having these negative emotions? Do you feel it is wrong to burden God with these negative feelings? Do you wonder if God will love you less if you reveal your real feelings to him?
If I were to cut to the chase and answer your question, I would say that our God is big enough to handle any negative emotions you might have. He is also compassionate enough to care to hear about them, preferably directly from you.
In Isaiah 38:1-8, King Hezekiah was stricken with a terminal illness. He was very depressed about the prospect of dying, and he felt that his destiny was not one he deserved since he had walked before the Lord faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and had done what was good in God’s eyes (Isa. 38:2). He pleaded with God to remember how he had lived blamelessly. God answered his prayer and added 15 years to his life.
During my 30 some years of Christian walk, I have gone to God with complaints of injustice, outpourings of my deep anguish, as well as plain whining. Some Christians insist that it is wrong to go to God with these outpourings or outbursts. But God wants us to be real before him, even though we don’t want our relationship with God to be dominated by these outbursts and outpourings.
In Exodus 2:24, God heard the groaning of the Israelites and sent a deliverer to lead them out of Egypt. Our God is a God of mercy who acts in response to our cry, our groanings and moanings. He wants to hear from us when we are suffering.
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Good one, Theresa. We fear being whine-y, yet God encourages us to cast all our cares on him. The difference between what pleases him and what offends him may be whether or not we trust God for a solution. Whether we rely on his lovingkindness that will see us through our challenges.
Somehow many of us think God wants to hear from us only when we’re good, cheerful, and problem-free. Relying on God’s grace is an ongoing learning process.