God Wants to Hear What You're Feeling

A few weeks ago, I was reading Song of Songs. I know this book of the Bible is known as the chapter of the Bible that talks about love between a man and a woman. But as I was reading this, I started reading it as God speaking to me. I know all scripture is from the Lord, but this was different. This was Him speaking directly to me, and where I was at that day.

As I was reading chapter 2 of Song of Songs, I came across verse 14, which says this:

“My dove is hiding behind the rocks, behind an outcrop on the cliff. Let me see your face; let me hear your voice. For your voice is pleasant and your face is lovely.”

As I read this, I felt the Holy Spirit starting to speak to me. I know if you’re not a Christian or follower of Jesus, all this talk about God and the Holy Spirit speaking to me sounds weird. But please stay here; I want you to hear this too. And I believe that even if the Bible or all this God talk makes no sense to you, you will be able to learn something from this and apply it to your life in some way. Just please stick it out for a little bit longer.

As I was saying, as I read this verse, the Holy Spirit started talking to me, and this is what I felt Him say: 

“When we’re suffering or facing hardships, so often we try to suffer alone or hide our face from the Lord. But God wants to see us. He wants us to go to Him. He wants to see our face. He wants to see our eyes. He wants to see our tears streaming down our cheeks. He wants to wipe away our tears with His gentle touch.  He wants to hear our voice. He wants us to talk to Him. He wants to hear what we’re feeling. He wants us to use our words. He’s there, ready to listen. We just need to look at Him and talk. No matter what we say or how our face looks, He still finds our face lovely. He still loves the sound of our voice. Speak to Him with everything you have.” 

This hit me hard, because how often do we, do I, try to hide from God or other people when I’m suffering or facing something hard? It just feels easier. It feels easier to bottle up what I’m feeling or facing, keep my head down, and survive through the day. I don’t want to bother other people with my sob story. They have enough going on in their lives; they don’t want to hear about my problems, too. And there are people out there who have it way worse than I do.

Or maybe you don't want to share what you’re going through because you feel ashamed or embarrassed by it. Maybe it’s something you’ve talked about so many times, and you feel like your friends are tired of hearing about it. Or if you’re like me, you don’t want to talk about it because you’re afraid. Afraid that whoever you share it with will use it against you or think you’re weak because of what you’re feeling. 

But these are all lies and tactics that Satan uses to try to isolate us. He wants us to suffer alone. He wants us to be ashamed or afraid to share whatever we’re facing. He wants us to suffer in silence. He loves it when we feel afraid and alone. He wants us to sit in the darkness, paralyzed with fear, shame, doubt, and loneliness. He doesn't want us to talk to God about what we’re feeling. I imagine he watches us sit by ourselves in the darkness with an evil smile on his face, thinking he won, because we are too afraid to share what we’re facing with God and the people around us. He thinks he has us right where he wants us.

But he doesn’t! Satan has no room or authority in our lives. I declare victory over us and our lives. There is freedom from all of this, and that freedom comes from the Lord. All we have to do is talk to Him about it. Share what you’re feeling with the Lord. Talk to the trusted people in your life. Ask them to pray for you and walk through the hard thing with you. We were never meant to go through the hard things alone. God wants us to share what we’re going through with the people around us.

If you have the right people in your life (and I pray you do), they want to hear what you’re going through. They want to sit with you in the hard times. They may not have all the answers or perfect words to say to you, but inviting someone in to sit with you in the hard and the darkness brings so much light to the situation. After you share it with them, you will likely feel like a weight has been lifted from your chest. They will pray with you and for you, even days or weeks later, when you're not together. Do you realize how powerful that is?

All God wants is for us to talk to Him. He already knows everything that we are feeling and going through. He wants us to tell Him about the hurt we’re feeling. He wants us to ask Him questions. When we share our suffering and hard things with God, He listens lovingly. I imagine Him taking His finger, lifting your chin to Him. Look at Him. He wants to see your face. He gently holds your face in His hands as you cry and tell Him all about everything you’re facing, and at the end of it, He smiles gently and tells you, “I’ve got it, sweet child. I’m taking care of it. You are my beloved, and I am yours.”

God really cares about what we're facing, and all we need to do is go to Him and tell Him about it.