by Rick Warren
“Get up, cry out in the night, even as the night begins. Pour out your heart like water in prayer to the Lord.” (Lamentations 2:19 NCV)
Think you’ve had a bad day? The biblical character of Job had a Ph.D. in pain and loss. In the very first chapter of Job, after everything fell apart in his life, Job “stood up, tore his robe in grief, and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground and worshiped” (Job 1:20 GWT).
Job expressed his pain to God. When you have a major loss in your life, the first thing you need to do is tell God exactly how you feel.
This may surprise you, but God can handle your anger and frustration. He can handle your emotions. Why? Because he gave them to you. You were made in the image of God, and he is an emotional God.
When your two-year-old has a temper tantrum and beats on your knees, you can handle that. In the same way, God is bigger than your emotion, and it’s OK to tell him exactly how you feel. When you prayed for a promotion, and it didn’t happen, when a loved one walks out of your life, when you get the dreaded call saying, “It’s cancer,” you can tell God, “I’m mad. I’m upset. I’m sick. I’m frustrated. I’m ticked off. I doubt.” God can handle your complaints, your questions, your fear, and your grief. God’s love for you is bigger than all of your emotions.
My kids know I love them. They know that I’ve been on this planet longer than they have and that I’ve had more experience than they have. But my children sometimes question my judgment. Can you believe that?
I’d rather have an honest, gut-level conversation with them than have them stuff their frustration and disappointment inside. God is the same way! He would rather have you wrestle with him in anger than walk away in detached apathy.
The right response to unexplained tragedy is not “grin and bear it.” Lamentations 2:19 says, “Get up, cry out in the night, even as the night begins. Pour out your heart like water in prayer to the Lord” (NCV). When was the last time you cried out in the night? When was the last time you poured out your heart like water to God?
Talk It Over
- Who is the first person you usually talk to about your troubles? Why do you trust that person?
- What have been the physical and emotional effects of keeping your anger to yourself?
- What do you need to wrestle with God about today?
