One of the biggest lessons that I have been learning is that God wants us to engage Him deeply and with our whole selves.
Think about the kinds of things we often say or sing to God:
- “I love you.”
- “You are great and good.”
- “Please do this for me.”
- “Here is something that happened today.”
- “I’m not feeling well right now.”
- “I’m struggling with this situation.”
These are all good things, but do you see what is missing? There is no emotional depth! These are vague and surface level statements. They allow us to keep a wall around our deepest thoughts and emotions (or so we think). We can pray these statements and still present God with the version of ourselves that is neat, well kept, and well managed.
The problem is, that is not the version of us that God wants!
He wants the version of us that is broken, ragged, messy, emotional, explosive, incomplete, and insecure. He wants us to come to Him in our weakness and trust Him with our deep fears, pains, and questions.
Take a minute and read Psalm 6 (NLT).
2 Have compassion on me, Lord, for I am weak. Heal me, Lord, for my bones are in agony.
3 I am sick at heart. How long, O Lord, until you restore me?
6 I am worn out from sobbing. All night I flood my bed with weeping, drenching it with my tears.
7 My vision is blurred by grief; my eyes are worn out because of all my enemies.
Does that kind of emotion and brokenness make you uncomfortable?
The author is sharing his deepest emotions with God. This is the raw and untamed part of his innermost being. He presents it to God in a way that says, “I don’t have this figured out or under control, but I’m inviting you right into the middle of it.” By the end of the Psalm, the pain is not gone, but the Psalmist has hope as he allows God to impact him (verses 8-10).
Let me encourage you to forsake the refined, polite, put-together version of yourself when you relate to God. Bring Him the depths of who you are and let Him impact you on that level.