It's OK Not To Be Okay

 "Hear me speedily, O LORD: my spirit faileth: hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit." Psalm 143:7

"Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me; for I am desolate and afflicted."

Psalm 25:16

Why do we pretend that everything is Ok when it's not?

Why the pretense?

Why do we insist that we can hold it all together by ourselves?

David didn't pretend that he could handle things on his own; why do we?

"How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me? Consider and hear me, O LORD my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death."

Psalm 13:1-3

Do I really help those around me if I pretend that nothing is ever wrong in my life?  

No, I don't.

Does God really want me to handle everything in my own strength?

No.  He doesn't.

When someone approaches me at church and asks me if I'm Ok, and I say, 'Yes.' when I'm really not, how does that help me?

How does it help them?

In the book of Psalms, we learn a lot about the man after God's own heart.  He made a ton of mistakes, he even denied some of them, but in the end, he always repented and turned back to The One Who would ultimately help him in all things.  He didn't pretend to know it all; he didn't pretend that everything was Ok all of the time.  When he needed help, he didn't push God away and say, "I've got this." No.  He poured out his heart and acknowledged that he needed God's help.

God doesn't want us to face our fears, anxieties, trials and discouragements alone.  He doesn't want us to pretend that we are Ok when we are not Ok.

At the end of Psalm 13, David sings: "But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation." 

Did things immediately change for David?

No.

But his perspective did.  

New perspectives will change:

Defeat into victory-

Murmuring into praise-

Make crooked paths straight-

Encourages the discouraged-

Turns sorrow into joy-

It enables us to keep on keeping on and to accept what the Lord allows in our lives to make us more like Him.

Instead of telling God, "I'm Ok, I've got this, I can do this on my own..."

    Let God know, "I'm not Ok, but God, you've got this..."

        But that's just me!

It really is Ok not to be Ok.

"I'm not fine, but God, you've got this!" Valerie M. Bodden