Wholeness: Attitude

At church this last Sunday the pastor posed an interesting question. "How does your attitude impact your prayer?" One person even admitted that when they are in a bad mood they tend to distance themselves from God. That is probably a common emotional response, and we may even believe that this is showing God proper respect. But is it really good discipleship? This got me thinking about some of the blunt prayers to God in the Psalms, here is but one example.

I say to God my Rock, “Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?” My bones suffer mortal agony as my foes taunt me, saying to me all day long, “Where is your God?” -Psalm 42:9-10

On the surface, it may not seem like the psalmist is being very humble or respectful; however, it is very honest and sincere. One thing we must remember about God is that he is not as fragile as we are. Unlike people, he is not afraid of our emotional outbursts. He is not intimidated by our attitude. Nor is he made uncomfortable by us unloading on him. While we do need to be cautious about how and when we unload on people, we need not apply that to God.

Maybe this is one of the major obstacles we have in seeking wholeness. We can't be truly humble before God, because we haven't truly faced our feelings yet. We can't face our feelings because we won't let ourselves be honest with God about them. Speaking as an artist, there is an incredible catharsis in unloading your feelings into your art. It also grants you incredible perspective and a better understanding of said emotions. Facing our feelings is just so much easier when we release them purposely, instead of holding them in on the inside until they find their way out explosively. While we may not all have an art language to speak that through, we all have a God to unload on. He does want what's best for you, if purging our attitude onto him helps us to move forward, find wholeness, and become more righteous, then he is definitely not offended by it. He is in fact, all for it.

Mankind may be afraid of being questioned, and try to project that onto God. Especially the disreputable denominations and cults. What does that tell you? However, God is far bigger than that. Jesus took on the sin of the world after all, if you truly believe that, then there is no need to censor your attitude in front of him. It's obviously a necessary step in finding wholeness. God doesn't want to stand in the way of that, so stop standing in your own way by whitewashing your attitude before him, and clinging to your brokenness; as a result. True holiness is a change of heart after all, not just a surface action.

The Visual PARABLEist