We have permission to be real with God. He does not flinch from our questions, He is not surprised by our doubts, and He is not fearful of our weakness.
God is God; and we are not.
Why do we try to hide our real thoughts from Him? He already knows the intricacies of the human heart. “Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether” says the Psalmist (Psalm 139:4). He knows all too well the fickle nature of the heart as well. He reminds us “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? ‘I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.’” (Jeremiah 17:9-10).
God does not want our false pretense nor vain words.
In Isaiah the Lord cries,
What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?
says the Lord;
I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams
and the fat of well-fed beasts;
I do not delight in the blood of bulls,
or of lambs, or of goats….
Your new moons and your appointed feasts
my soul hates;
they have become a burden to me;
I am weary of bearing them. ~ Isaiah 1:11,14
He wants us to love him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.
And he also understands, better than we ourselves do, that this task of vulnerable love will involve the dropping of the masks we wear and the reserve we cling to. And though He sees us in our raw, unfiltered mess, He loves us still.
We must learn to be real before Him. No relationship worth having is built on falsehood or pretense. He urges us to pour out not our expectations, nor eloquent words but our hearts:
Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your heart before him;
God is a refuge for us. ~ Psalm 62:8
Yes, we must approach him with reverence, with thanksgiving, with fear. “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31). But we must also approach with honesty, with trembling, and with love. In another place the Hebrews author urges us to “with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).
We are not the first to approach the Lord with our questions or our hurts. For centuries, the Lord’s people have approached him with their burdens and fears.
How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I take counsel in my soul
and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? ~ Psalm 13:1-2
We may not always find our prayers answered as we wish them to be. Nor will we find easy solutions for the difficulties in our lives. But in speaking honestly with the Lord, in trusting Him with our questions and fears, we find the same assurances that the Psalmist did:
But I have trusted in your steadfast love;
my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord,
because he has dealt bountifully with me. ~ Psalm 13:5-6
We find that God is faithful, that He is good and that His love never quits. He is the only one big enough, strong enough, gentle enough to hold us throughout our lives. At times we may beat our fists against his chest. At others, we may rest quietly in His arms. He is more than able to hold all of us – even the broken pieces.
It is he who remembered us in our low estate,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
and rescued us from our foes,
for his steadfast love endures forever ~ Psalm 136:23-24
Photo by John Noonan on Unsplash
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