The NIV 365-Day Devotional Reading PlanSample

Honest to God

As the old saying goes, “honesty is the best policy.” It’s a rule most of us try to live by on a daily basis in our family life and in the workplace. Common sense tells us that dishonesty doesn’t get one very far in the grand scheme of life.

But how honest are we when we come to God in prayer? How honest are we when we sit in a worship service, trying for all the world to maintain a smile in the midst of difficult and stressful life circumstances? Do Christians really have to be happy all the time? After all, God wants us to put our best face forward when we come to him, right? We might hurt God if we tell him what we really feel. Or we might offend him to the point that he withdraws from us.

Psalm 102 demonstrates to us that this certainly isn’t the case. Even though we may think that God can’t—or won’t—handle our honesty, from this and other psalms we learn that he wants to hear the whole story.

As many as 60 psalms are “laments” or complaints to God. Some simply bemoan how bad life is. Others ask God to vindicate the person who’s praying. Still others request God’s vengeance on an enemy. Some question whether God really cares.

These laments reflect an honest relationship between the songwriter and God. In Psalm 102 an afflicted man cries out to God. In despair, the man asks for deliverance from his troubles. People taunt him. He can’t sleep at night. He feels alone. Yet by the middle of his prayer God already seems to be providing answers. The dark clouds in the songwriter’s prayer dissipate; his words of hopelessness give way to expressions of hope and trust in God.

God can handle the truth. The range of our emotions—even our anger—won’t and can’t drive him away. He created us and already knows our every emotion. As the all-knowing and ever-present God, he already knows the feelings of our heart. Amazingly, he knows us better than we know ourselves. Ask God to show you his heart so that you can be free to open your heart more fully to him.

Taken from NIV Men’s Devotional Bible