Tags
a good cry, burdens, Christian encouragement, christian journey, christian walk, Christianity, crying, devotional, devotions, emotional baggage, family devotions, letting it our, pouring your heart out, screaming
The experts tell us that sometimes we just need a good cry. They tell us to let the tears flow and somehow it will release all of our pent up emotions, but I confess, I hate to cry. Even though I hate it, I follow the experts’ advice and cry when I feel like it, but in all honesty, crying makes my head hurt. After I cry, my nose is stuffy, my head aches and to top it all off, I look like Rudolph! No pretty tears for me. I always cry ugly! After a good cry I look for that feeling of euphoria, but I am always disappointed. In fact, a few nights ago my man and I went to see an awesome movie (The War Room) and I cried throughout, but for the rest of the night I was miserable. My head pounded and on the ride home I was even sick to my stomach. YUCK! Crying, for me, is simply not as therapeutic as it’s supposed to be! I’ve always wondered what the deal is?!
A few weeks ago, my man and I were hiking in the Smoky Mountains. We went up and up and up…and up. We were in bear country, so I was clapping my hands and singing songs and basically letting anything fly out of my mouth that I thought of as I was gasping for air so that Mr. Bear would not come for a visit. All of a sudden, I saw a black line laying across our path. I kept walking along, then all of a sudden it was like my brain finally clicked. I let out the most blood curdling scream you can imagine. I screamed and screamed and screamed! It was a snake!! A slithery, black, not getting out of my way, snake! I ran backwards into my man, screaming all the way. I thought to myself that I needed to tell him it wasn’t a bear, or say, “snake”, or something, but I just couldn’t do anything but scream and scream and scream. He gallantly poked the snake enough to get it to move along and then, an interesting thing happened. There is was! There was my feeling of euphoria! I felt this rush of hilarity. I felt a freedom of emotion. I started laughing and kept laughing for quite some time. My thoughts were clear. My emotional baggage was gone and I realized – I’M NOT A CRIER. I’M A SCREAMER! (I’m not sure why the experts don’t tell us about this option. Maybe it’s because crying is quieter. After all, if I’m in a waiting room and I hear screaming in the back, I might just have to leave.) Needless to say, bears were not a problem that day (nor any kind of wildlife).
Psalm 62:8 says, “Trust in Him at all times, O people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us.” Pour out your heart before Him. That sounds like we could scream if we need to. It sounds like we could yell if that’s what it takes. It also sounds like we could have a good cry. Whatever it takes to pour out our heart, that’s what He wants from us. He can handle it. In fact, He made us, so He’s more than ready for whatever we can dish out. I love that about Him. He is our Refuge whether we cry, or scream. He can be trusted with all of our stuff. He wants it placed before Him.
So, whether you are a crier, a screamer, or something in between, pour out your heart to your Savior today. I promise you will get that euphoria you hear others talk about and you might get rid of some wildlife in your area too.
A Seeking Heart 