I don’t know what your routine is, but mine looks a little like this:
1. Up early between 5:00 and 6:00 every morning
2. Fix a cup of coffee
3. Find my glasses (so I can focus)
4. Sit in my favorite chair with my Bible and iPad
5. Pray
6. Read my Bible and/or study book
7. Write
Simple, huh? That’s what I thought, until I recently began to notice #5 wasn’t acting right.
Now before I tell you why, let me just say that I don’t mean to sound mechanical in my “quiet” time. I’m just a routine-kind-of-girl, and I move slow first thing in the morning. In fact, I’m not a morning person at all. I’ve just fallen in love with God and found mornings to be my most productive and fulfilling time of the day (and a great way to start right).
So, back to my dilemma…
I enjoy talking to God as if He were sitting there with me (because I believe He is). So like any other person, I usually start my prayer time with a “Good morning Father” followed by my thanks for everything from a good night’s sleep to events from the past day or things I’m about to face.
But little by little, I realized I was actually “unloading” on God. It wasn’t ugly of course, but I was literally dumping every random thought on Him. And this wasn’t just one morning that I did this, but had actually become my “new routine” and I felt a little bad about it. I mean, who likes to be dumped on? I know I don’t. I’m not a real fan of someone giving me a quick hello only to ramble for 20 minutes on a bunch of nonsense without taking a breath between thoughts… agree?
So naturally, I apologized to God. And He said, “What for?”
“Well, for my unnecessary rambling of my thoughts and cares,” I responded.
And that’s when He said, “But I told you in My Word that I care about those things, remember?”
Yes He did. How could I forget? 1 Peter 5:7 says, “Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” It doesn’t say to cast only the really important things on God–it says all.
And two things we should note about this scripture:
God cares.
Literally, He cares about everything we care about. I like to say it this way: If it’s important to you, it’s important to God.
God can take care of it.
Not only does God care about the things (big or small) that are burdening you, but He “cares for you.” In other words, He knows how to take care of it–and He will.
I was feeling bad about unloading on God, when in actuality He was very pleased that I was emptying myself so I could be filled with the right things.
Luke 1:53 says, “He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty.” I believe the rich are those who think they’re full, but in reality are empty. Yet because they won’t cast their burdens on God, they leave His presence the same way they entered… empty of good things, but full of cares, worries, and difficulties.
In one of King David’s moments of “unloading” on God, he said, “I cry out to the Lord with my voice; With my voice to the Lord I make my supplication. I pour out my complaint before Him; I declare before Him my trouble” (Psalm 142:1-2).
Wasn’t David described as a man after God’s heart? If God was pleased with him, He will be pleased when we do the same.
So is it ok to unload on God? YES! In fact, I believe He’s pleased when we do because it’s a show of great trust in the only One who can actually handle it.
Just don’t forget to thank Him when you’re finished…
