Job 7:11 – I can’t be quiet! I am angry and bitter. I have to speak.
God can handle your emotions — He gave them to you, after all! He can handle your anger, doubt, fear, questions, grief, and even your complaints. Be honest; tell it to God. Get it off your shoulders. Spill your guts! Tell God exactly how you feel: “God, I hurt!” This is exactly what Job did.
Job was brutally honest with God: “I can’t be quiet! I am angry and bitter. I have to speak” (Job 7:11). He continued to dishout his frustration in the verses that follow: Read Job 7:12-20.
If you were God, how would you react? Get angry? Is that what God did? No! Because God understood Job. God understands you, too, and He understands your hurt. God isn’t surprised when you say, “God, I don’t like this. It hurts!” Who do you think created those emotions? Who do you think gave you the capacity to get angry and express those feelings? God did. God is not surprised by your emotional state.
God let Job get it off his chest. It was a kind of cleansing so that Job could get clean and be healed.
The right response to unexplained tragedy is not “grin and bear it” but honestly telling God your struggle. Lamentations 2:19 says, “Cry out in the night . . . Pour out your heart like water in prayer to the Lord”.
Job questioned God’s actions, but he never stopped trusting God. Did you know that trusting God with your feelings is an act of worship? “Job stood up, tore his robe in grief, and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground and worshiped” (Job 1:20).
Go ahead. Express all your feelings. Release your frustrations. God can handle it! BUT NEVER STOP TRUSTING GOD.
REFLECTION
– How does it feel when you tell a close friend exactly how you feel?
– When you find yourself questioning God’s actions, do you continue to trust God, or does that become a struggle?
inspired Grisele 