Risen & Rooted

We were created to know God. To commune with Him. To talk with Him. Yet, for me, I seem to find it easier to spill my guts to everyone but Him, especially when I’m feeling very deeply about a given situation. Eventually I come to Him…when I’ve said too much and my oversharing (more like word vomiting) of thoughts and feelings blows up in my face….

Without fail, every time this happens, GOD is faithful to rebuke and correct me through His Word. These two Scriptures always resonate in me: Psalm 55:22 and Psalm 62:8. In the first verse, GOD tells me to cast my burdens on Him…not everyone else. In the latter verse, GOD tells me pour out my heart to Him. When I go to Him in obedience, casting my burdens on Him and pouring out my heart to Him, there’s a release and a relief. He does for me what no one else can do. He understands me in ways that no one else can.

Over time, I’m coming to learn why David called GOD his refuge. His Rock. His hiding place. When I pour out myself emotionally to someone and they uplift and encourage me, there’s a tendency to keep going back and sharing things with them. They become a refuge. A safe place. I feel at home with them. It is so easy for me to spill my guts to my husband, my family, or my friends. There’s nothing wrong with talking and sharing with people, but the problem with pouring out EVERYTHING to others is that they have their own set of problems and they may not be able to fully absorb the impact of what I’m dumping on them. In turn, I get disappointed because I FEEL they don’t understand what I’m saying or they don’t respond in a way that I WANT or EXPECT them to. This selfishness on my part. I fail to remember that, at the end of the day, we are all human and that my expectations should be set ONLY in Christ (Psalm 62:5-8). Though we’ve been commanded to bear one another’s burdens, it is wrong for me to expect PERFECT responses and reactions from people who need help and healing just as much as I do. There is really only One Person who can handle me dumping all of my problems on them.

JESUS. HE is my safe space. HE is my refuge. HE is the Friend that sticks closer than a brother (Proverbs 18:24). JESUS said He cares for me and that I can come to Him and cast ALL my cares on Him (I Peter 5:7). He is the One I was created to know, to share EVERYTHING with, and to commune with – at the deepest level. With Him, I get to experience a perfect, fulfilling, and fruitful conversation every single time. I’m so glad He’s only a prayer away.

Marsha Jackson