Just Shout at God!

Yesterday, I told a friend to just go into her office, close the door and shout at God. She was lamenting the fact that just about the time she really began to open herself up and start relying on God to get her and her family through everything, things began to fall apart around her. Why in the world was this happening?

Boy, I get it. I have spent many an hour whining and screaming at God. And that's ok. Because God knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows us down to our inmost parts. And He knows our hearts. I believe that God prefers the conversation we are having with Him over us leaving Him behind as we go through our lives. Even if we're mad.

For instance, Psalm 22:1-2 - "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, fso far from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent."

Or, Psalm 10:1 - "Why, I Lord, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?"

Psalm 13:1-4 - "How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?

"Look on me and answer, O Lord my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death; my enemy will say, 'I have overcome him,' and my foes will rejoice when I fall."

You see, I think God wants us to question Him and be open with our feelings when we talk to (or shout at) Him. But, at the same time, I can't believe that He wants us to sit around and feel sorry for ourselves. So ... what's next?

Well, today, I was talking with some other friends about the reason that we have the scriptures. When it comes down to it - the very last point of the reason...

... Hope.

Romans 15:4. "For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope."

The last part of Psalm 13 (look back a few paragraphs) is the ending of the lament of David. I think it's cool.

Psalm 13:5-6 - "But I trust in your unfailing love, my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord for he has been good to me."

The reason we have hope is because of God's unfailing love, because God has been good to us in the past and because He has offered us salvation.

When I'm at my lowest point and just crying out to God, whether I'm pleading or shouting or whining or throwing a tantrum, He never walks away from me. He doesn't have to leave the room so that I'll learn a lesson. He has all the time in the world to sit with me until I'm ready to pay attention again. God knows that things aren't easy down here on earth. I doubt that He wants them to be easy. If we led easy lives, what reason would we want to be in heaven? No, God knew that day that Adam and Eve left Eden, that things were going to be tough for us.

What He doesn't want us to ever forget is that even though things seem really tough and we're in a 'mood' because of it, He is still there. His love is unfailing. He has been good to us and will be good to us again. In fact, probably through the things that we are most annoyed with Him, He is being good to us - we just can't see it.

So, when it seems awful - for heaven's sake - don't shut down and walk away. Shout at God, tell Him exactly how you feel. Open up the conversation. Allow yourself to be vulnerable before Him. Then, He'll be able to communicate with you as well and offer you the Hope thatonly He can give!