Honesty With God

One thing I love about scripture is the raw honesty you see from the individuals God calls such as, Jeremiah, David, Moses, Isaiah, and many others. I am specifically refering to how they say things to God when their lives are upside down with confusion, heart-ache, pain, and suffering. It is in those moments that they say things to God that almost scare most Christians today. When reading some of their replies you almost get the feeling that major discipline is coming from the heavens after they say those things. Listen to what the Psalmist said in Psalm 44:11-15 (NASB):

11 You give us as sheep to be eaten
And have scattered us among the nations.
12 You sell Your people cheaply,
And have not profited by their sale.
13 You make us a reproach to our neighbors,
A scoffing and a derision to those around us.
14 You make us a byword among the nations,
A laughingstock among the peoples.
15 All day long my dishonor is before me
And my humiliation has overwhelmed me.

Is this God we are talking about? Yes, it is. There is one element for genuine growth in Christianity that is vital to our relationship with God- honesty. Without being honest before God we deceive ourselves of the magnitude of a trying situation, and we also miss out on true relationship and faith building with God. Here's the thing, if God already knows our words before they exit our mouth, then why are we holding back our honesty when it comes to complaints (Ps 139:4)? We first have to understand that complaining to God and complaining to others is different. I am not condoning that we all walk around as miserable complainers. I am saying that there is space in our relationship with God to exspress our grief, complaints, heart break and frustrations. Take a look at the Prophet Jeremiah:


1:10 “See, I have appointed you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms,
To pluck up and to break down,
To destroy and to overthrow,
To build and to plant.”

After a few times of being beaten to near death for obeying God's call on Jeremiahs life this is what he has to say to God:

http://churchmusictoday.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/frustration2.jpg 
20:7 O Lord, You have deceived me and I was deceived;
You have overcome me and prevailed.
I have become a laughingstock all day long;
Everyone mocks me.


Jeremiahs reply to God is that of, "God you told me whatever I wanted to hear so that you could get me to do what you wanted me to do." You hear that? Jeremiah is accusing God of manipulation in his grieving complaint. It takes more faith and bravery to express our true feelings to God in times of grief and frustration. So, what is the point? 

If we do not have a place in our lives with God to grieve and express our frustrations we will become fake in our relationship with God. It is a silly Hollywood ending to think that our faith in God will never meet opposition. Truth is we need a place in God to express our true feelings. The good news is that God knows, he can handle it, and our faith in him will be deeper when we are living in honesty before him. I encourage you to try it. Begin to discuss something that you find heart breaking, frustrating or confusing with God and look for his loving response. 

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38-39).

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