New Morning Mercies #228

Don’t complain to someone else, cry out to God. He’ll never turn a deaf ear to the cries of his people.

Your life really is shaped by whom you cry to. If your cry is a complaint, you will find yourself with other complainers because misery loves company, and your heart will grow more discouraged and hardened. If you cry to people instead of God, you will ask those people to do what only God can do. They will feel overwhelmed and unable, and you will grow more desperate. If you silence your cries, crying only to yourself, you will feel increasingly alone and without anyone who cares and understands, and you’ll feel more and more helpless. The good news of the gospel is that you don’t have to muffle your cries. You don’t have to be ashamed that you have reason to cry, and you surely don’t have to feel that God is too grand, too far off, or too busy with more important things than to listen to your measly little cries for help.

I think one of the reasons for the Psalms in the Bible is to give us courage to cry and to teach us when to cry:

• “O, Lord, how many are my foes! Many are rising up against me; many are saying of my soul, there is no salvation for him in God” (Ps. 3:1–2).
• “Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have given me relief when I was in distress. Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!” (Ps. 4:1).
• “Why, O Lord, do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” (Ps. 10:1).
• “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?” (Ps. 13:1).
• “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?” (Ps. 22:1).
• “Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me” (Ps. 35:1).
• “My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all the day long, ‘Where is your God?’” (Ps. 42:3).
• “O God, you have rejected us, broken our defenses; you have been angry; oh, restore us” (Ps. 60:1).

There are many more passages like these in the Psalms. They are there to encourage you to cry to the One who will never turn a deaf ear to your cries and who has the power and willingness to meet you in your need.

For further study and encouragement: Psalm 46