Writing Yourself Into Scripture
Psalm 88 & 13: Pain, Grief, Anger, Sadness
Psalm 139 & Romans 8: Identity and Receiving the Love of God
Psalm 91: God’s Promises for Protection
John 15: Enter Into God’s Joy
Following Jesus is good, hard work. Our health is important to God, including our emotional health. What does it look like to have a relationship with God that is honest about the anger, frustration, joy and delight that exist in our walks with Him.
- WORD
Reflect on where you need God to meet you. Perhaps, there are quite a few places but choose one scripture that resonates with where you are now from the above list and ask three questions:
· What does this passage say about you and other people?
· How is this different from what you believe about yourself and others?
· What does this passage say about God?
- ACTIVE RESPONSE
Grab a notebook and using the passage that you chose rewrite the psalm with yourself inserted into the text. For example, if you rewrote Romans 8 instead of:
“There is a no shame or condemnation for those in Christ Jesus”, you would write “there is no shame or condemnation for me in Christ Jesus”.
Additionally, you may want to be more specific. For example In Psalm 88, instead of writing, “I am overwhelmed with troubles and my life draws near to death” you might say, “My mother and father are getting divorced, I am failing school and I feel lonely all the time. I feel so overwhelmed and like God, you’re not even there.
Bring your whole self to God! He is not insecure and longs to hear your pain and sadness as well as your joy and delight!
- SHARE WITH SOMEONE
Find someone who you can share your Psalm with. Ask them to LISTEN actively to what you are saying – not to be on their phone or have headphones in. Ask them to EMPATHIZE and AFFIRM what you have shared by sharing where they resonate with you and see where you’re coming from. Lastly, ask them to PRAY for you that you may continue to press into God’s presence.
Then do the same for them! Sometimes, you might do this as a large group or worship gathering. However long it goes, let it go! Make sure to give folks permission to be heard, don't cut it. At the end, make sure to tell people the following:
"You just shared and right now you feel vulnerable. We see you. We're still here. Your emotions are valid, you matter - to me, to God and to one another. If someone said something that resonated with you, give them a hug, say thank you." Close the time with prayer and agree to meet again to follow up on what was shared!