LAMENT

To feel is to be human. To minimize or deny what we feel is a distortion of what it means to be image bearers of God.
Peter Scazzero (Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, 2017)

So I’m just here to share my church notes really. The word shared by Pastor Esther Storey of CLM Church was so filling, so healthy and such a timely reminder that God is more than capable of handling our feelings. He gave us emotions for a reason and we do ourselves a disservice by stifling, suppressing and repressing them – hiding them from his presence when all he yearns to do is have them expressed in full and welcome us into his embrace. This message was too good not to share so not only will I share the notes I took BUT I will link the actual recording (visual and eventually audio) down below as well!

I pray you are blessed as you read and you begin to recognise that God cares about our feelings and more than that he wants to be present in processing them with us, if only we’d let him.

“If you are at rock bottom, know that there is a rock at the bottom.” (Pastor Martin Storey)

‘You’re as real to me as bedrock beneath my feet, like a castle on a cliff, my forever firm fortress, my mountain of hiding, my pathway of escape, my tower of rescue where none can reach me. My secret strength and shield around me, you are salvation’s ray of brightness shining on the hillside, always the champion of my cause.’
Psalms 18:2 TPT

Key Scripture: Psalm 13

“Instead of turning to God, (our pain) makes us want to blame God.”

“There is room to come and be honest to God.”

Turn to God:

don’t tidy up, come messy but come regardless

“Are you weary, carrying a heavy burden? Then come to me. I will refresh your life, for I am your oasis.”
Matthew 11:28 TPT

II.

Bring your Complaint:

identify questions, frustrations and lay them out before God. Don’t let pain or grief be buried, don’t pretend the feelings & responses aren’t there but bring your complaints to God humbly but honestly

“I cried out to you in my distress, the delivering God, and from your temple-throne you heard my troubled cry. My sobs came right into your heart and you turned your face to rescue me.”
Psalms 18:6 TPT

“Lord, you know all my desires and deepest longings. My tears are liquid words and you can read them all.”
Psalms 38:9 TPT

III.

Ask Boldly as You Are:

“So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.”
Hebrews 14:6 NLT

To seek God’s help in a place of sorrow is an act of faith. It’s to act in faith that He does not change and He desires what is good for us. It forces us to look up and consider that a different reality is possible.

There’s a fine line between a position of faith and a position of denial. But only one of them fully faces the facts.

Conclusory Elements:

Disappointments, despair erodes our trust. However trust is the destination of lament.
Pastor Esther Storey

The fact that in choosing to express my full range of emotions, I am showing him that I trust him with them that I trust him with the fragility of my heart is one of the many reasons I absolutely love having a genuine, transparent, real relationship with Jesus.

There can still be joy at the goodness of God even in the midst of sorrow.
Pastor Esther Storey

It’s such a beautiful thing to recognise that even in Christ, sorrow and suffering doesn’t just magically disappear but rather what life with Jesus brings is ‘an eternal joy, that lasts through trials and painful seasons.’ (Justin Bieber)

SOUND OF JERICHO

I hope you are as blessed as I was through this message and before I go, I’d love to leave you with this INCREDIBLE album: ‘Feelings’ by Chandler Moore. I cannot believe I haven’t spoken more about this more but it’s clear that I needed it for my own personal healing purposes first and thus wouldn’t have been sharing from an authentic place, so God plans everything out perfectly!

This album is so timely, released in a year that has been rife with various emotions – the majority of them on the lower end of the frequency. I don’t even want to say too much except, be blessed if you choose to listen: