I have to be honest, there have been times the weight of my trials have just brought me to tears before God. What about you? If we are all honest we can likely say yes.  Then there are those times we refuse to cry because perseverance is the ability to withstand the pressure of a trial and remain strong under it.  Is that really the truth however?

Have you ever thought about that question?  What perseverance isn’t.  It isn’t faking, it isn’t putting on a mask and pretending.  It isn’t a vain attempt at pretending we are capable of holding up under pressure and stress while we are collapsing on the inside, unable to ask for help in an honest way even before God.  What?  If we are not honest about the pressure, honest about what it is doing to us, then we will not be honest about the need for help.  If that is the case, then the pressure continues to build because we have now put ourselves in the way of receiving the help we so desperately need.  Often it is us that needs to get out of the way so we can get what we need.

At the same time we need help, we block it from coming.  By making ourselves believe we are doing fine by lying to ourselves, and to others, we are the cause for our own suffering.  Yes the world can be cruel, it can be difficult, and it can be the source for trials.  However, there is available to us help, but if we do not allow ourselves to be honest we will not receive what we are need of.

This help, the Lord.  Yet He is not going to force upon us a solution we do not ask for, or a will we do not want to follow.  He has for us promises 0f comfort, peace, strength, shelter, and help.  Yet if we are not honest about our need, we are not going to accept what He is offering to help us for those needs.  It is much like the independent child refusing the needed help from the parent, when the parent knows they have what the child needs, and the parent knowing they cannon force the child to accept it.  God has what we need, but our refusal to be honest about our need blocks His ability to give it to us.  We need to get out of the way of the giving

What excuses might we use?  I am sure you have your own, I have had mine.  Our emotions can sometimes wreak havoc on our ability to admit our need.  Maybe you say I just don’t cry, I can’t cry it will show my weakness, I refuse to show my anger, I get too angry, I am depressed, I am overwhelmed with grief, I am burdened with sorrow, I am extremely lonely, or some other overwhelming feeling that you don’t know how to express.  Remember this–Christ felt every possible emotion you have ever felt when He walked this earth, only He felt it pure and unchanged by sin.  That means He understands that emotion even better then we do ourselves.  As well, the Lord created us with these emotions, so His understanding of them is perfect, so His help will be the perfect help we need in that moment.

What we must do is go to Him in honesty, with a full outpouring of our emotions and what we need.  He is listening, and wants to know our burdens.  He is not fooled by our masks and our attempts to hide our inner most thoughts, desires, and needs.  We must always go to Him honestly if we expect to gain the things that we need the most, for He has not only promised them, He desires to give them to us.  We must get out of the way of the giving.

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