Dear Church,
 
Is there anything going in your life that you’ve been afraid to talk to God about?  There may be times that you think your life is falling apart, maybe you lost your job, maybe a relationship is broken, maybe someone close to you dies, maybe a health struggle, maybe your battle with sin is turning for the worse or maybe you are thinking God has abandoned you in life.
 
Be candid with God. If we swallow our emotions, we are the ones getting hurt. Philippians 4:6, says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known to God”.  Why is it so difficult for some of us to share our struggles with God?  In the book of Lamentations, Prophet Jeremiah is very disturbed about the plight of his country, Judah.  Judah’s foreign enemies are torturing his people in incredibly inhumane ways, people are dying all around.  Jeremiah doesn’t hold anything back to God, he tells God exactly how he feels, in Lamentations 3: 4-6; “⁴ He has made my skin and my flesh grow old and has broken my bones.⁵ He has besieged me and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.⁶ He has made me dwell in darkness like those long dead.”  Now, you can’t get more real than this.  No sugar coating here, in fact he spends five chapters telling God about his feelings on this situation.
 
God wants us to be honest about our feelings.  Which parent will blame or love less their child who is honest about their feelings, even if they are wrong. When we are open with God, God opens his enabling grace to see us through those frustrations of life.  This is the beginning of healing in our life. Remember, Jesus cried out, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani” from the cross.  Was he forsaken, no, “God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name.” When we turn to God with honest and sincere hearts, he gives us clarity to see things from God’s view and redemption from our struggles. 2 Corinthians 3:16, says “But the moment one turns to the Lord with an open heart, the veil is lifted, and they see” (TPT version)
 
May we all turn to the Lord with open hearts so that our veils may be lifted.

Be Encouraged,
Mathews