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God is the safest person to cry with.
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Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord;
Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive
to my cry for mercy.
I often lie to myself. I’ve learned self-deception from attempting to control my emotions. I can talk myself out of what I’m feeling so others won’t see how shaken I really am. As a result, I struggle to identify how I feel – let alone be honest about it. But, bottling up emotions is never a good thing. In fact, it’s not healthy at all. Emotions are disguised if not dealt with. That’s why handling emotions in a healthy way is one of life’s most important skills, because what we do with those feelings distinguishes a healthy person form an unhealthy one.
The writer of Psalm 130 cries, “Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD!”. Look how he handles of his emotions. He doesn’t just have damp eyes; he cries out with a shout to God. I suppose this is the Bible’s way of recommending a “good cry.” In 2011, the Journal of Research in Personality explored the benefits of crying. Why you cry and whomever witnesses your tears actually makes a significant difference in whether your crying helps or hurts your emotional state. The study reveals having a supportive person present can significantly increase the benefits of crying. The inverse is also true. Crying in the presence of someone or a group of people who are not supportive can make the situation worse.
The cries of Psalm 130 are more than physical tears, they are deep emotions shed before a sympathetic God. In fact, the entire collection of the Psalms reveal God as the safest person to cry with. We don’t have a distant and unsympathetic God. Instead. we have Jesus who became a man, felt the pain of betrayal, false accusation, physical attack, fierce mockery, harsh abuse, and even death. Hebrews 4:15 tells us we can approach God boldly with our deepest cries because he understands. Jesus is not afraid or emotionally removed from our cries. Even he cried bitterly before he went to the cross for our sin. So cry out to God. He is not only understanding, he is capable of comforting and powerful enough to change our circumstances. Crying to God with raw honesty is the healthiest expression of emotion. Today, ask yourself, “What holds me back from being honest about my emotions before God?”
I Cry
Like floods rise swell my cries
From my deepest me
I fling them up unto the skies
To my God I plea
Do you hear me God of mine?
Do you understand?
Will these tears find your time?
Well they on your heart land?
And if they do find seed in you
What fruit will they produce
Will they be pesky weeds to you
Or will they be sweet fruit?
What blossoms can my sorrows bring
With you they can grow peace
For you alone when gardening
Can harvest hope from grief
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By Aaron Bjorklund
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