When You've Had Enough

[Marathoner]

1 hour ago, Still Alive said:

My wife's real experience back in the late 70's:

She had three children, all under the age of 8. Her husband was dying of leukemia and they had no life insurance. They had recently cancelled it because it was $23 a month and they were young and healthy and really needed the money. After the last visit before he died she was driving away from the hospital and was so mad at God she pulled over to the side of the road and started yelling at God and banging her fists on the steering wheel and dashboard. 

Suddenly, from the back seat was a clear, audible and calm voice that simply said, "Be at peace, child". She felt like warm water washed over her body and she was completely calm. She put the car in gear and drove home. 

I think God gets it.

He does indeed, my friend. We are only men and women and it's good to keep that in mind. We can become tired, grow weary, or find ourselves frustrated at our wits end. 

Speaking to the Lord truthfully pleases Him. He already knows as others have pointed out. I've called this "The Lesson of Cain":

Instead of speaking the truth to the Lord who surely knew that he killed his brother, Cain chose to lie instead. Imagine how different things would have been for Cain if he had simply dealt honestly with God, who is merciful and swift to forgive. We know from the scriptures how speaking to the Lord truthfully pleases Him; He has regard for those who do. 

I understand that for some, it requires no small measure of courage to tell the Lord what He already knows. It was a simple matter for me after I had suffered brain damage, when the Lord taught me how to speak and take care of myself again. 

I experienced great difficulty controlling emotions at that time, something the Lord knew well. Those daily lessons learning how to speak again by reading the first three words of the Gospel of John aloud was the greatest challenge I had faced in my life. I didn't lose the ability to read words, but I did lose the ability to speak/pronounce them. It took three days for me to master pronouncing, "In the beginning."

I cried... I screamed... I slammed my fists on the table... and I couldn't understand why the Lord had spared my worthless life. For what... to be reduced to such a state? It would have been better if I had died; but no, the Lord said I would live instead. 

I had quickly forgotten His promise to do the very thing I was being subjected to because my mind was a disorderly, chaotic mess. He promised to teach me. He promised to provide for me. 

He was not stirred to wrath during those emotional outbursts. His Spirit soothed my soul instead, making it possible for me to continue with those grueling lessons. Truly, this is the image of how the Lord works in us all here and now. 

[Starise]

17 hours ago, AnOrangeCat said:

I go through what I think of as "Why me, God?" moments sometimes when frustrations mount. I might even say it out loud in an exasperated tone so I hear you about remote/soundproof locations. I used to feel like we shouldn't do it but I've since changed my mind. I think that so long as there's some respect shown to God it's okay to pour our hearts out before Him, even if we're frustrated with Him. The way I see it is deep down if we complain to Him we believe He can do something about it, thus it shows our dependence on Him. Another thing to remember is that a lot of the content found in Psalms is this very thing.

Psalm 13:1-2: "How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?"

Once you get past the floral language it seems a pretty clear instance of venting. The thing is that these instances in Psalms also typically come with some acknowledgement of God's power and/or past deeds, hence my feelings on the need to be respectful in our ventings.

That sounds very similar to what I do sometimes. Someone has said God can take it and it isn't anything He wasn't heard before. In some cases my language may not be so floral if you know what I mean. Your reference of the word points to KJV jargon I think. What I find amazing is that we can come to the throne at all, yet we have full access through Jesus. As branches of the vine, I think we need to stay in constant contact with the vine. This access sometimes feels wasted on what God may see as trivial things sometimes, and at other times the need is great and the heart is heavy.

Many of my conversations involve WHY? Sometimes a bit of frustration comes from it. I have a whole book full of whys. I often feel misplaced, yet I know I'm not misplaced, I'm just not aquiesing well to my place sometimes. The world is just an evil unfair unacommodating place that isn't easy for anyone. A heart full of thankfulness and praise can aid in erasing those feelings, so I might say "Thank you Lord" and then ask why  I also tend to make emotional requests for emotional issues and people round me. A tea kettle person that whistles every now and then. The Lord knows the sound of my whistle.

 

[Starise]

17 hours ago, ayin jade said:

If by venting you mean telling the Lord of ones troubles and continue in faith with Him ... david in psalms gives us an example:

Psalms 13
1 To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. How long will You forget me, O LORD? Forever? How long will You hide Your face from me?
2 How long shall I take counsel in my heart having sorrow in my heart daily? How long shall my enemy be lifted up over me?
3 Look! Answer me, O LORD my God; enlighten my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,
4 lest my enemy say, I have overcome him, and my foes rejoice when I am shaken.
5 But I have trusted in Your mercy; my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.
6 I will sing to the LORD, because He has rewarded me.

Notice how david maintains faith and worship of the Lord. His heart is wrapped up in the Lord

If by venting you mean crying out to God and not relying on Him, then I do not think that is appropriate.

Job vented without submitting to the will of God, without relying on the Lord, and is chastised for it: 

Job 40
1 And the LORD answered Job and said,
2 Shall a reprover contend with the Almighty? He who reproves God, let him answer it.
 

 

 

The return on sorrow has always been greater than the investment in happiness, since a lot of what people call happiness is based on shallow illusion. It feels good to see David in the same place for me.

"Venting" improperly, no @Marathoner that's not what I'm talking about, Venting improperly as in a disrespectful manner to God probably can border on blasphemy, and while we are told blasphemies of men will be foregiven, there is a penalty that comes with every sin. God paid the ultimate penalty, but we may be left with the fallout. 

16 hours ago, ladypeartree said:

Since God knows our hearts and minds why do you have to be somewhere soundproofed ? My head is soundproofed enough for me to have long conversations with God at any time 

Similarly I am in constant contact internally and thankful for the discourse. Sometimes a verbal outlet just feels good, so it's really for my benefit, and I will say things to God I would never think of saying to anyone else because I know He gets it.

 

 

[Starise]

16 hours ago, Marilyn C said:

I`ve heard the `frustration` is actually wanting our thing in our time and not God`s timing. 

I believe that, and it's one of those things I don't like to admit to myslf as true. Maybe peacful requests go a lot further than emotionally charged  displays of inner frustration. Yet it's just a part of who I am and I don't think I can always turn that switch off. Some of this reflects our similarity to God's image. God gets upset. The difference is, when He gets upset it's always justified. We as believers have a right I think to get upset at sin and people who are charging like stallions into hell. For me this isn't a desire to see them all burn, it's an inner deep sadness that if they don't turn around, their end is destruction. I have hope that some will be saved and feel a failure on some level if I don't see progress or success right away. Part of this is blindness to what my prayers accomplish in the spiritual world. Hope is a powerful thing, especially if it is properly placed. Prayers are answered but not always in the ways or in the times we would anticipate. What I think happens is many often give out of chuzpa far too soon.

16 hours ago, Marilyn C said:

And many times we need to get to the end of ourselves, our human strength to realize that only God can do .......

Sometimes all we can do is pray. Surely this does not minimize prayer, but may highlight what we've been missing all along as the most powerful tool in our arsenal.

16 hours ago, TheBlade said:

He Starise disrespectful? Na.. what can I say that He has never heard before? That being said what I love is how He treats it as if it was the 1st time. But.. yeah Hes God.. I know He can take it. 

12 hours ago, Annette said:

I remember when my mom passed away, someone took the time to share with me that there may come a time when I do feel hurt or anger. The person told me it is okay to feel this and even tell God about it. 

I think of Psalms. The writer often poured our his heart cries to God.

Having said this, I think it's okay to let Him know what we are feeling. Remembering too, to come to Him and thank Him for our blessings. 

Amen.

 

[TrueFollowerOfChrist]

20 hours ago, Starise said:

I was recently talking with some friends. We were on the subject of being frustrated about things sometimes. One of them mentioned they didn't feel comfortable taking that to God.

We all go through these very human experiences and sometimes it seems we hold back how we really feel, even to God. I mean, He already knows regardless.

Does anyone else have times when they get frustrated and vent to God? I have had some interesting discussions with him in my car when noone else is in it. The only other place I would feel comfortable doing that is in the deep woods or a solitary bathroom with good soundproofing. Usually for me, it's in the car.

How about you? Do you feel it's disrespectul to vent to Jesus?

I vent to Jesus ALL the time. I don't think he's upset by our anger. Sometimes I ask him why he allows bad things to happen. If I'm alone, I'll tell at him. Many might think that very unchristian of me, but when you consider that he already knows EXACTLY what you're feeling and thinking, your not doing anything out loud that you haven't already done in thought. The truth is that Jesus isn't the least impressed with showy prayer. He desires total honesty than niceness. Jesus can take our true feelings. 

[Starise]

9 minutes ago, TrueFollowerOfChrist said:

I vent to Jesus ALL the time. I don't think he's upset by our anger. Sometimes I ask him why he allows bad things to happen. If I'm alone, I'll tell at him. Many might think that very unchristian of me, but when you consider that he already knows EXACTLY what you're feeling and thinking, your not doing anything out loud that you haven't already done in thought. The truth is that Jesus isn't the least impressed with showy prayer. He desires total honesty than niceness. Jesus can take our true feelings. 

Yeah imagine of we did those kinds of private prayers in public church services. Lord please help deacon blubbo to be nice and why is everyone here so thickheaded?

[TrueFollowerOfChrist]

18 minutes ago, Starise said:

Yeah imagine of we did those kinds of private prayers in public church services. Lord please help deacon blubbo to be nice and why is everyone here so thickheaded?

Yeah, it's kind of sad how we as Christians feel the need sometimes to put on a fake face. Church is supposed to be a place where we can expose the real us, yet most churches would kick us out of we were honest about what goes on inside. This is why I don't attend church anymore. I actually got told to leave once because I was depressed and not "happy". Because I'm case you didn't know, Christians are supposed to have it all together and be always happy 100% of the time right?? 😂

[Starise]

36 minutes ago, TrueFollowerOfChrist said:

Yeah, it's kind of sad how we as Christians feel the need sometimes to put on a fake face. Church is supposed to be a place where we can expose the real us, yet most churches would kick us out of we were honest about what goes on inside. This is why I don't attend church anymore. I actually got told to leave once because I was depressed and not "happy". Because I'm case you didn't know, Christians are supposed to have it all together and be always happy 100% of the time right?? 😂

. Most of the folks in my church are great and I attend multiple churches and groups. I see us a lot like a family and families often have differences of opinion. They just moved out all of our pews and replaced them with padded chairs in the course of a remodel. This would have probably split some churches. There was some fallout but things are still moving along. Part of the success I attribute to a dedcated remodel comittee who gave regular updates to the progress and the work was well done and executed.

I'm sorry to hear of your experiences. Never heard of someone being run off for being sad. They would have dumpled me multiple times. David was often sad going through tough times emotionally due to his circumstances, and we as believers will too. Let's lift one another up! I have been going through a lot of emotional stuff lately and I don't know what I would have done without those brothers and sisters in the various home groups. One of our friends is especially gifted in encoragement, and when we were there yesterday I felt like she should be in an office somewhere charging 100.00 a half hour, but she isn't like that. Just a gifted woman who uses her gifts . We didn't even go there for a talk, we were there to drop something off, but God worked in it.

We can none of us do life alone, and we are not expected to. God is our strength and He often uses brothers and sisters to help.

[FJK]

When you;re stumbling around in the darkness, stubbing your toes, falling down and bumping into things and vent your frustration to God you may get an answer something akin to "Turn the light on, dummy!".

That's the way it works for me.

[RdJ]

Now no. When I was depressed and my world fell apart, kids were given to ex, 3 month old baby, divorce, church collapsed since he was the pastor, no friends anymore cause church friends LOL I just put up Louis de Funes all day every day to chear me up. I have whined at times, like: I wish I was dead. That was a fun one. 2nd divorce. Weeeh whine I wish I was dead and He said: You already died! 2000 years ago. And oh the joy. With thanks to Gideons300 on christian forums who was preaching that all the time.