Weeping over our hurt

We Christian types are really good about hiding our grief, pain and hurt.

Some think that God wants us to walk around with a smile on our face all the time.

Some Christians have this idea that we should never be sad, we should never grieve, we should never hurt.  We should never cry.

Whether it is a parent who gets Alzheimer's or a child who gets cancer or a husband or wife who gets laid off from work or somebody stabs you in the back, that you should always walk around with a big smile, like it is no big deal and you should never grieve over these losses.

That God wants us to put on a "smiley face" and walk around saying, "Praise the Lord"!

"Nothing wrong here"!

It doesn't take a psychologist to know that is living in denial. 

And all denial does is put off the inevitable - that you and I will eventually be confronted with handling the grief that we feel.

"Don't show any negative emotion, you are not trusting in God!"  "You are showing a lack of faith!"

That is heartless and even rude.

I was hurting the other day over something someone said, and I was counseled, "that just comes with the territory of being a pastor.  You'll get over it."

I thought, "okay, thanks a lot for the comfort."

While it is true that we are not to hold on to wounds and hurts from the past, we are called upon by the Lord to have a time when we express our hurt and our pain to God.

In a real way.  In a sincere way.

In Matthew 5:4 Jesus taught, "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted."

In other words, it is okay to grieve. 

It is normal, natural and biblical to release your pain through tears.

It is okay to cry.

You don't repress it - stuff it down.

You don't rehearse it and go over and over it in your mind.

You release it and give it to God.

You cry out to God, "I hurt"!

"This is a tough one to handle!"

"I am hurting God"!

David prayed in Psalms 62:8, "Pour out your heart to God, for He is our refuge."

He also said in Psalms 34:18, "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit."

I encourage you today, to "let it all out" to God and someone you trust.

In fact, I encourage you to schedule a window of time this evening where you are going to say to yourself, "I am going to grief over this situation.  I am going to give it to God.  I am going to release my feelings to the Lord."

And then move on.  And then let it go.

Just a thought for a Tuesday.