Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – October 29, 2019
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. Proverbs 3:5
Have you ever felt that God has let you down, that He has been unfaithful in some way because He didn’t give you what you asked for, or what seemed good and right? Has an unanswered prayer caused you to doubt His faithfulness? If so, perhaps you have felt that you can’t be honest with him about how you feel. Maybe you’ve got the idea that if you admit how you really feel that God will be displeased.
Indeed, being honest with God about the ugly things in our hearts doesn’t always come easily. Many believe that it’s not okay to say we’re angry with God or that we feel He’s lied to us, let us down, or betrayed us. Right? We’ve been led to believe that messy emotions are not okay and that being honest about our doubts is spiritual taboo—that “Hallelujah!” and “God is good!” should be constantly on our lips.
There’s a better way.
When we’re brokenhearted due to loss or disappointment, God wants us to be honest with Him. Why? Because being truthful creates an open door for Him to walk through to heal us. That’s the way grief works. When we let it out, He comes in to apply His healing truth to the places that hurt.
One day it hit me afresh that the Psalmist did this very thing. Then I unexpectedly got the idea to do something I used to do when I was in the second grade—color in my Bible. I picked two of my favorite hues: pink and green. Every phrase in which the Psalmist expressed feelings, I highlighted pink. In the places he proclaimed God’s truth, I colored the words green. The result was an interesting pattern: Pink, green. Pink, green. Pink, green. Feelings, truth. Feelings, truth. Feelings, truth.
This reminded me that God shows that His plan for my life involves the blending of my emotions with His truth. One without the other never brings emotional healing or keeps me from believing the lie that God has betrayed me.
What if a woman lives only according to her feelings? There will be no healing for her broken heart, because emotions alone are often untrustworthy and can be based on lies. But what if she acknowledges God’s truth only and stifles her emotions because “It’s the Christian thing to do?” Healing remains elusive, because she’s living a life of denial about what’s really going on in her heart.
God wants to merge what we know in our heads about His Word with what we feel in our hearts, even if it means admitting some ugly things such as we’re angry with God, believe that He’s lied to us and let us down—or that He’s betrayed us. It’s only when we’re honest that He can change our song of betrayal to a song of joy.
Faith requires that we live not just from our heads but also from our hearts. Only then can faith be transforming. This means that we allow God to touch the messy places of our internal lives; we engage our emotions and cooperate with God to blend them with His truth.
“And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest” (Exodus 33:14).
Prayer
Lord, thank you that I don’t have to be afraid of coming to you with my honest feelings. You know them anyway. Please heal my heart from any hurts and please heal any unbelief I have. Amen.
Application
If you are angry with God about an unanswered prayer or a disappointment, talk with him about it today.
Related Reading
2 Corinthians 5:7; Isaiah 12:2; Isaiah 26:3-4
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Faith requires that we live not just from our heads but also from our hearts. #WisdomHunters #trust #Jesus
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