CAN I BE HONEST?

 Psalms 6:3 (NIV)

My soul is in anguish. How long, O LORD, how long?

               If you were angry at God, would you tell him? If you were frustrated with God, would you express your feelings honestly?

               I have been reading Tim Keller’s book on prayer and this morning I read a section about intercession. Most often, much of the content of our prayers falls into this category. We ask God for things we need or want. We pray for others, asking for healing or a job or the reconciliation of a relationship. All of these things are acceptable. Jesus invites us to make our requests to God.

               Keller points out that there is an aspect of intercession that we often omit; complaint. Not only are we uncomfortable with complaining to God, we feel it is inappropriate. We have been taught to pray in the most positive terms possible, even when we feel anything but positive. We are afraid God will be angry with us if we express our doubts, frustrations, and anger. Yet, God already knows all about these feelings. Still, we find it hard to express them directly to God, even though we might verbalize them to others.

               In the book of Psalms, there are at least 42 Psalms of lament. King David, in particular, was not afraid to express his deepest emotions to God in prayer. What we often miss as we read the Psalms is that they were intended to be used in public worship. These were not just the private musing of David and others. These were to be sung as a corporate act of worship.

               The Psalms can teach us much about expressing our emotions honestly before God. The first thing that we must grasp is that it is okay! God is not threatened by our complaints. God is not put off when we express anger or frustration. God’s love for us is not diminished in any way when we are openly honest with Him. We know that in a human relationship, trying to hide our anger or frustration is destructive. As hard as it is at times to be honest with our emotions, it is the only way to really deal with them. Once they are out in the open, we can address the root cause and move forward. What is true in our relationships with others is true in our relationship with God.

               Not only is it okay for us to express our emotions before God, He invites us to do just that. God wants us to be honest with Him about how we feel, even if those emotions are negative. By expressing our deep emotions to God, we open the door for God to answer our complaints. In the process, we can gain a better understanding of why we feel the way we do. We can begin to put our emotions into perspective. In the vast majority of lament Psalms the author ends with a new or clearer understanding of who God is and that He can be trusted.

               Somewhere along the line I was taught that the only question that God will not answer is the question why. I think that this is only partially true. Some of the ultimate questions, such as why God allowed a certain tragedy to occur, will probably remain a mystery to us. But on the other hand, there are many occasions when God is more than ready to answer our why questions. When we ask why we feel a certain way or act in a certain way, God will lead us to understand more about who we are and the motives that are hidden even from us. Not only will God give us a better understanding of ourselves, He will also give us a deeper understanding of who He is.

               In 2 Corinthians, Paul relates his struggle with what he called his thorn in the flesh. Three times he prayed and asked God to take it away, but God did not. Then, in an implied why question, God revealed to Paul that He would give Paul the strength and the grace to endure his affliction. God had not abandoned Paul, but was calling Paul to a deeper level of trust and reliance upon God.

               When we have the courage to honestly express our emotions to God, we open the door for God to do a work in our lives that goes far deeper than the presenting issues. God is in the process of shaping our character so that we might be transformed into the image of Christ. That journey often leads us through some dark valleys where it is hard for us to see the light. As we openly express what we are feeling, we invite God to shine His light into our situation. Like Paul, God is calling us to learn to trust Him at a much deeper level.

               On Sunday, we sung the hymn, It Is Well with My Soul. It is a powerful and challenging hymn that encourages us to rest in the loving arms of Jesus even when our world seems to be in chaos. But before we can truly rest in Jesus’ loving arms, we need to be honest with ourselves and with God that from our perspective it does not feel like it is well with my soul.

               In the book of Job, Job openly complains to God about his situation. God never let’s Job in on the secret behind why all this was happening to him. But in the end, God calls Job a righteous person. Job was honest with God and God honored him for it.

               Job and the Psalms teach us that God wants us to honestly express our emotions to Him. By releasing our anger and frustration to God we open the door for God to replace them with His peace and assurance.

Psalms 42:11 (NIV)
Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.