31 Days of Hope - Day 20

“Evening and morning and at noon, I will complain and murmur, and He will hear my voice.” Psalm 55:17

Did you know that you can complain to God? And that you can even do it repeatedly, if needed?

I think there’s often this view of God which makes Him appear far too distant and lofty to listen to anything hard that is in our lives or on our hearts. Yes, He’s holy. Yes, He’s Almighty. And yes, He’s seated on a heavenly throne. But this same Almighty God longs to hear from us – and if what we say to Him appears more like a frustrated cry, then so be it.

You see, if we believe He truly knows our hearts, then He already knows our frustration, our pain, and our hurt. So why would we try to hide all of this when we come to Him in prayer, masking it all and acting like everything is fine?

If David, who is known after a man after God’s own heart, didn't mind pouring out His complaints to God over and over – and he apparently didn't, because in this verse he mentions doing it in the evening, morning, and noon – then we should be encouraged that we can too. We can tell him how we really feel on both the good and the bad days. We don’t have to “sugar coat” our lives just because we are talking to a perfect God.  He knows He is hearing from an imperfect person He's created who is living in an imperfect world.

So let’s drop the pretenses, and get real before Him.

He knows. He sees. He cares.

And He’s always listening.