Beautiful Word: Your Daily Devotion

Daily Scriptural Insights, Curated by the Editors of CT | [View online] [ChristianityToday.org] [Donate] [Beautiful Word Newsletter] Tuesday, January 17, 2017 Unedited Prayer [Vaneetha Rendall Risner] Today’s Verse Powered by the [New Living Translation] “I cannot keep from speaking. I must express my anguish. My bitter soul must complain. . . . I would rather be strangled—rather die than suffer like this.” Job 7:11, 15 [View in context] I used to respond to pain and suffering by actively refocusing my mind, determined to have a positive attitude. But doing so left me even emptier and unhappier than before. Then I realized that Scripture never mandates that we constantly act upbeat. God wants us to come to him in truth. The Bible doesn’t whitewash the raw emotions of its writers as they cry out to God in anguish, fear, and frustration when life ceases to make sense. People like Jeremiah, Job, Habakkuk, and David have all poured out their honest feelings of sadness and disappointment to God. For example, Jeremiah protests to God, “Why then does my suffering continue? Why is my wound so incurable? Your help seems as uncertain as a seasonal brook, like a spring that has gone dry” (Jer. 15:18). And Job complains, “I cannot keep from speaking. I must express my anguish. My bitter soul must complain. . . . then you shatter me with dreams and terrify me with visions. I would rather be strangled—rather die than suffer like this. I hate my life and don’t want to go on living” (Job 7:11, 14–16). The Bible is shockingly honest. And because of that, I can be honest as well. I can both complain and cry, knowing that God can handle anything I say. The Lord wants me to talk to him, to pour out my heart and my thoughts unedited because he knows them already. Pouring out my heart to God changes me. I can experience true joy only after I have acknowledged my sorrow. And when I do, I find myself in a deeper place with the Lord, who helps me reframe my disappointments and pain. Reflect: Read Job’s complaint in 7:1–16. How has acknowledgement of pain or sorrow made way for true joy in your life? Pray: What difficult or painful questions might you need to ask God? Use a journal to express them to God in honest prayer. Vaneetha Rendall Risner is the author of [The Scars That Have Shaped Me] and is a regular contributor to DesiringGod.org. Excerpted from The Scars That Have Shaped Me, © Vaneetha Rendall Risner 2016, used by permission. [Read devotions online] | [Share with a friend] More for Women [Patricia Heaton: My Career Floundered, Then Flourished Because of Faith] [Patricia Heaton: My Career Floundered, Then Flourished Because of Faith] Q+A: The star of 'Everybody Loves Raymond' and 'The Middle' reveals the prayer that changed her life. Rebecca Cusey [The Micro-Premie Dilemma] [The Micro-Premie Dilemma] Does NICU technology change our pro-life obligations? Courtney Reissig Follow Us [Facebook] [Twitter] [RSS] [Subscribe to this newsletter] In the Current Issue [January/February] [500 Years After Luther, We Still Feel the Pressure to Be Justified] [Subscriber access only] [Reading the Reformation in 2017] [Pro-Life's Reformation Ripples] [Subscriber access only] [View Full Issue] [Subscribe Now] Christian Bible Studies [The Minor Prophets: God Still Speaks] [Lead your group in experiencing God's sovereignty, holiness, and love.] [by Tom Cowan, with Kyle White] [Beautiful Word] Delivered via email to subscribers daily. [Subscribe] | [Email Preferences] | [Unsubscribe] | [Privacy Policy] | [Advertise] | [Subscribe to CT] You are currently subscribed as: {EMAIL} Copyright ©2017 [ChristianityToday.org], Christianity Today, 465 Gundersen Drive, Carol Stream, IL 60188. All rights reserved.