Speaking in Anguish

 When something really bad happens to us, we can be crushed in our hearts. We can be in anguish over the situation. It can lead us to despair. In our hurt we can seek to cut ourselves off from other people, because we want to be alone, or because we do not want others to know how badly we are feeling. When we do that, we do not help ourselves, but we slow our recovery.

When Job was hurt so badly by losing everything and suffering so much physically, he gave us a great truth to remember. (Job 7:11) He declared to his friends that he would not restrain his mouth, he would speak in the anguish of his spirit, and complain in the bitterness of his soul. I believe there is a lesson in this verse that so many believers need to learn. 

Many Christians think if we speak in anguish of our spirits and we complain in the bitterness of our souls that it means we are not good Christians. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Job was commended by God to the devil as a righteous man, but he still had very strong feelings in his pain and grief. Those feelings needed to be expressed to God and to others. Job did that and it helped him. It will help us to do the same thing.

When we speak, we pour out what is in our heart. It helps us get the raw feelings and anger out of our heart. This is a cleansing that needs to take place. We need to remember that God knows what we are feeling , and He can take anything we say to Him. He is not going to get mad at us and cut us off. He is going to listen to us and help us, like He did Job. Also, our Christian friends can be the ones with whom we speak, and they can love us and pray with us, as we heal.

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Tomorrow, I intend to read Job 8-10.