I Can Tell God What’s Really Going On

“Get up, cry out in the night, even as the night begins. Pour out your heart like water in prayer to the Lord.” Lamentations 2:19 (NCV)

If I ever thought I had a bad day? Job would understand; he practically had a PhD in pain and loss.

In the very first chapter of Job, everything in his life fell apart. His response? “Job stood up, tore his robe in grief, and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground and worshiped” (Job 1:20 GW).

Notice that Job openly expressed his pain to God. When I experience pain, do I tell God exactly how I feel? What I'm learning is that It should be the first thing I do.

God can handle my anger and frustration. He can handle my emotions. Why? Because he gave them to me. I was made in his image, and he is an emotional God.

When a 2-year-old has a temper tantrum and pulls on my legs, I can handle that. In the same way, God is bigger than my emotions, and it’s okay to tell him exactly how I feel.

When I pray for a promotion but don’t get it, when a loved one walks out, or when I get a dreaded call saying, “It’s cancer,” I can tell God how I feel. I can say, “I’m mad. I’m upset. I’m frustrated.” God can handle my complaints, questions, fear, and grief. God’s love for me is bigger than all my emotions.

I remember my daughter would sometimes question my judgment—even though she knew I loved her and had more life experience. Still, I’d rather have an honest, gut-level conversation with her than have her stuff frustration and disappointment inside.

God is the same way! He would rather I wrestle with him in anger than walk away in detached apathy. 

When tragedy strikes, I don’t have to grin and bear it. Instead, go to my heavenly Father with my pain. “Get up, cry out in the night, even as the night begins. Pour out your heart like water in prayer to the Lord” (Lamentations 2:19 NCV).

In summary:

Lamentations 2:19 encourages me to pour out my heart to God in prayer—especially in pain. Job modeled this when he lost everything yet honestly expressed his grief to God. Like Job, I don't need to hide or suppress my emotions. God created me with feelings and is big enough to handle my anger, fear, grief, and frustration. When life falls apart, the best response isn’t to shut down emotionally but to bring everything—raw and unfiltered—to God. He values honest, heartfelt connection far more than quiet detachment. God’s love is bigger than my emotions, and He welcomes every part of me in prayer.

Bottom Line:

God can handle my raw emotions, and He wants me to bring my pain, anger, and grief to Him honestly in prayer—because He loves me and meets me there.

Learning to Get Real With Others

In Ephesians 4:23-25 it says, “Let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy. So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body.” (NLT)

To change the defects in my life, I’ve got to have people in my life who tell me the truth. I’m not going to get well on my own. I’m going to need support. I’m going to need a small group.

Change requires honest community.

The things in my life I’m never going to be able to change on my own are typically the things that are the most difficult in my life. They’re also often the things I don’t want anybody else to know about.

I’m never going to get over those things until I share them with someone. I don’t have to tell everybody. I just need to find at least one person who will trust me and whom I trust—someone who will be confidential, love me unconditionally, not be judgmental, and pray for me. Revealing my feelings is the beginning of healing.

This does not mean a small group where I get together on a superficial level and everyone is “fine” or “doing great.” I have to get to the level of maturity in my small group where I can say, “I had a tough week. Life is really hard right now. Here’s what happened.”

Ephesians 4:25 says, “So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body” (NLT).

If I’m a believer, I’m also a belonger. I belong in God’s family, and every other believer belongs to me. I cannot become until I belong. I can’t become what God wants me to be until I belong in a group that’s going to have gut-level, honest community.

So put away falsehood. Talk to my neighbor. Tell my friend the truth, because we belong to each other.

If I’m serious about changing the deepest hang-ups and defects in my life, I’m going to have to face the fear of being honest. I’ve got to stop faking it. I’ve got to be real.

I can go through life one of two ways: pretending like I’ve got it all together or getting it all together. But I’ll never get it all together as long as I pretend I’ve got it all together.

In God’s family, we belong to each other. Let’s be honest with each other so we can help each other make the changes that bring health and healing.