Pouring Out

"I pour out my complaint before him, before him I tell my trouble." Psalm 42:2


Wisdom is knowing where to dump our troubles.

A shoulder to cry on, now and then, are gifts from God, given for comfort and sometimes restoration (I wrote rebuke first, but I don't like that word and I didn't think you would either). I thank God for friends who patiently hear me out when things get all knotted up and twisted inside and my heart just needs a place to sort it all out. The wisdom I have gained from sharing my struggles is more valuable than precious earthly treasures. It has been helpful, I have to admit to you. Sometimes the dear listener does not even have to say a word, things just get untwisted as they, with heart and arms open, just listen, and I hear the messy stuff out loud, the mess begins to unravel.

But the wisest and safest place to take troubles and pour them out is right into the lap of the Lord. Transformation of heart happens when the unhappy wrestling of circumstance is given to Him . . . just laid out there, real and raw.

I know this by heart, I really do. He sees me running toward Him sometimes and I think He probably braces Himself for what is coming, because He knows . . . He knows that I usually carry it too long, and when it emerges from my being it is usually very smelly, disgusting.

He has never turned away from my approach. He opens His arms and takes me in with embrace and says, "Pour it all out, little girl, get it all out. That kind of poison is deadly for the heart, let it all out."

He knows where to put the mess that I leave in His lap. He helps me get back on my feet to face another day in a world where life can be cruel and things can get twisted up inside of soul so easily. I leave our meeting place strengthened and restored.