When Life Falls Apart, Be Honest With God
By Rick Warren
“[God] has made my skin and flesh grow old. He has broken my bones. He has besieged and surrounded me with anguish and distress. He has buried me in a dark place, like those long dead . . . And though I cry and shout, he has shut out my prayers.” Lamentations 3:4-6, 8 (NLT)
We all go through times when our lives seem to be falling apart. We lose our job. A relationship falls apart. Someone dies. Our health takes a turn for the worse.
In those times, we’re tempted to think God has abandoned us.
But he hasn’t.
The ancient prophet Jeremiah was in the same boat when he wrote the book of Lamentations. His country, Judah, had endured an economic tailspin and was terrorized by a foreign enemy. He had witnessed incredibly inhumane acts committed against Judah. People were out of work and starving to death.
Where did Jeremiah start? He told God how he felt: “[God] has made my skin and flesh grow old. He has broken my bones. He has besieged and surrounded me with anguish and distress. He has buried me in a dark place, like those long dead . . . And though I cry and shout, he has shut out my prayers” (Lamentations 3:4-6, 8 NLT).
Does it surprise you that these words are in the Bible? Jeremiah—like some people today—felt God had forgotten him. But Jeremiah didn’t ignore what he was feeling. He didn’t sugarcoat the situation. He told God what was on his heart. In fact, Jeremiah spent five chapters telling God what he thought about the situation. He told God, “This stinks!”
Why would God put that kind of passage in the Bible? He wants you to know that he can handle your anger, your gripes, and your grief. Jeremiah spent an entire book of the Bible blowing off steam. If God is big enough to handle Jeremiah’s pain, he’s big enough to handle yours too.
If you swallow your emotions, you just hurt yourself. Your stomach will keep score!
Instead, unload your emotions on God.
When my kids were little, they’d throw temper tantrums. Their temper tantrums didn’t make me love them any less. They didn’t make me doubt my decisions. They didn’t make me feel like less of a father.
They reminded me that my kids were immature. They didn’t know what I knew.
God doesn’t love you any less when you throw a temper tantrum. He doesn’t owe you an explanation. But he is never afraid of what you have to say.
So tell him. It’ll be the beginning of healing.
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This devotional © 2018 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
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