God Knows We Feel 上帝深知我们的感受
Dexu Xia
By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me—a prayer to the God of my life. Psalm 42:8
Feeling overwhelmed, Sierra grieved her son’s fight with addiction. “I feel bad,” she said. “Does God think I have no faith because I can’t stop crying when I’m praying?”
“I don’t know what God thinks,” I said. “But I know He can handle real emotions. It’s not like He doesn’t know we feel.” I prayed and shed tears with Sierra as we pleaded for her son’s deliverance.
Scripture contains many examples of people wrestling with God while struggling. The writer of Psalm 42 expresses a deep longing to experience the peace of God’s constant and powerful presence. He acknowledges his tears and his depression over the grief he’s endured. His inner turmoil ebbs and flows with confident praises, as he reminds himself of God’s faithfulness. Encouraging his “soul,” the psalmist writes, “Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God” (v. 11). He’s tugged back and forth between what he knows to be true about God and the undeniable reality of his overwhelming emotions.
God designed us in His image and with emotions. Our tears for others reveal deep love and compassion, not necessarily a lack of faith. We can approach God with raw wounds or old scars because He knows we feel. Each prayer, whether silent, sobbed, or shouted with confidence, demonstrates our trust in His promise to hear and care for us.
What emotion have you tried to hide from God? Why is it often hard to be honest with God about difficult or overwhelming emotions?
Unchanging Father, thank You for assuring me that You know I feel and need to process my ever-changing emotions.
白昼，耶和华必向我施慈爱；黑夜，我要歌颂祷告赐我生命的上帝。—诗篇42篇8节
夏兰因儿子无法戒瘾而感到非常伤心，不知所措。她说：“我很难过，上帝会不会因我在祷告中哭个不停而认为我信心不足？”
我回答她：“我不知道上帝如何看待这事，但我知道祂能接受及平复我们的情绪，因祂知道我们是有情绪和感受的。”我陪夏兰一起祷告、流泪，祈求她的儿子能得着拯救和释放。
圣经记载了许多人在困境中质疑上帝的例子。诗篇42篇的作者表达了他深切渴望能得着上帝的平安，并且经历祂大能的同在。他昼夜以泪洗面，对自己所承受的悲伤感到万分沮丧。当他回想上帝的信实，心中的纷乱逐渐平息并流溢出赞美。诗人鼓励自己的心后，他写道：“要仰望上帝，因为我还要赞美祂──我的救主，我的上帝”（11节，圣经当代译本修订版）。他心中的两股力量不断在拉扯，既明白上帝是真实可信的，却又无法否认在现实中难以压抑的情绪。
上帝按祂的形象创造我们，给我们各种情绪感受。我们为别人流泪，表达深切的关爱与同情，并非是缺乏信心的表现。我们能将新痕旧伤带到上帝面前，因祂能感同身受。不论是无声、啜泣，或充满信心大声的祷告，每一个祷告都表明我们相信上帝的应许，祂必垂听我们的呼求并且看顾我们。
你曾试着向上帝隐瞒什么样的情绪？
为何总是很难向上帝坦诚自己的困难和强烈的情绪？
永不改变的天父，谢谢祢让我确信祢深知我的感受，
并且处理我多变的情绪。