Have you ever had a day where one minute you are praising the Lord and the next minute you find yourself frail and experiencing a moment of despair? Emotions-they can take us on adventures of extreme highs and lows within seconds. We can go from a mountain top to a pit of self-criticism. They can truly manipulate our thinking if we allow it.
Jeremiah knew about this all too well. In Jeremiah 20, he quickly goes from worshiping the Father as a mighty rescuer to blatantly showing major insecurity within himself. He even states, “Cursed be the day I was born! May the day my mother bore me not be blessed!” (Jeremiah 20:14 NIV). Wow, definitely a stark contrast in thoughts and emotions.
Emotions can even be mixed. I have often found myself in sorrow and despair yet praising the Lord. In times of deep grief and major heartbreak, I have found crazy joy which makes absolutely no sense in human terms. There have been times when my heart and mind have been so peaceful when my world was absolutely falling apart.
Feelings are feelings! It is part of how God constructed each of us. He knows us better than we know ourselves, so our emotional displays and expressions do not catch Him off guard. Much like Jeremiah, God wants us to voice the despair and insecurity. He truly wants us to have 100% confidence in Him to be transparent and raw.
Let me share 3 reasons I have found why to express all feelings (good, bad, or ugly) with God:
- It is a display of trust. Deuteronomy 7:9 states, “Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments.” When we share our crude feelings with God, it shows a level of faith and dependance. Regardless of how we feel, the Lord is more concerned with where we place our hope. Our transparency shows belief in God’s promise to not allow anything to separate us from His great love no matter the emotions and insecurity running through our veins.
- It demonstrates a relationship with the Lord. Deuteronomy 3:24 states, “O Lord GOD, You have begun to show Your servant Your greatness and Your strong hand; for what god is there is heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as Yours?” Think about where you run first with good or bad news. Are there emotions that come with the news? Sharing information with someone builds a relationship. We go to them because we know they care and the news is just as important to them as it is to us. When we go to God it builds a relationship. He delights in our vote of confidence. He cares deeply about our everyday news, feelings, success, failures, highlights, etc. Let Jeremiah be our example to share ALL that is within us to the one who is in charge of all things-GOD.
- It illustrates humility. Proverbs 11:2 states, “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.” We are often too prideful to admit our emotions due to the conditioning of society. The book of Jeremiah expresses how pride destroyed Judah to the point of no return. They refused to listen to reproof or the sting of truth because they only wanted to experience “good feelings” regardless if they were attached to sinful acts. When we lay ALL emotions before the Lord, we display a heart under God’s authority. We demonstrate a belief in Him as steadfast and master of all our thoughts, emotions, and feelings. It is an opportunity to allow God to sort through them and guide us in dealing with them appropriately.
Remember my friend, God remains your all in all. Trust Him with everything-yes, even with those crazy emotional exploits that seem to come out of the blue. He is the one person who can handle the transparency and give you the discernment with each emotion-good, bad, or ugly. Let this be a pathway to build a relationship with Him. Make a point to chat with Him often and share honest moments.
Who else truly has your back, fights for you on all realms, and never grows tired of loving you?
Refining [Spiritual Growth] 