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DEAL WITH IT – DON’T BURY IT!

I pour out my complaint before him; before him I tell my trouble. Psalms 142:2

There are different kinds of Psalms. Some where people express their deepest emotions to God; and it’s actually therapeutic. It’s what David did: ‘I am overwhelmed and desperate, and You alone know which way I ought to turn’’ (Psalm 142:3). Ever been there? David acknowledges his pain before God. He allows himself to feel it in his gut. That takes courage, especially when you just want to bury the pain and put on a brave face. John Ortberg writes: ‘I regret the pain of failure so keenly that I backed away from owning it and learning from it. I could not heal and move on. I wanted to bury it so deeply that no one would ever guess it was there - not even me. I have needed to learn to pray the Psalms of lament.’ The Bible doesn’t condemn the grieving process; it just warns us not to get stuck in it. Jesus said, ‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted’ (Matthew 5:4). F.B. Meyer says, ‘There are some who chide tears as unmanly, unsubmissive, unchristian. They comfort us with a chill, bidding us to put on a rigid and tearless countenance. We may well ask whether a man who cannot weep can really love. Sorrow is just love bereaved; its most natural expression is tears. Jesus wept. The Ephesian elders wept on the neck of the Apostle whose face they were never to see again. Tears are valuable. Pouring out your heart to God is a vital step to becoming whole.’

Prayer
Heavenly Father, help me come to grips with those things in my life that I need to deal with so I can move through them. In Jesus’ Name, Amen