There’s a distinct point of time when I snap.

I don’t mean that I snap my fingers to a happy chorus. Nope.

I mean I snap like a dry twig. You can almost hear the cartoon-like crraaack.

My patience runs out. My face contorts. My tone hovers somewhere between irritable and infuriated. My words range from snarky to scathing.

Usually, it happens when there’s a lot on my plate. It’s when I feel like I’ve reached the end of my rope—and then someone (my family) tugs it just a leetle bit more.

More, “Look at this, mama!”

More, “We’re out of snacks. Can you buy some Oreos…”

More, “Can I please watch this show? What?? ALL my friends are watching it.”

More, “My friends are planning a trip to the mall. Can I go? Why not? You never let me do anything!”

More demands on my time and space and attention. That’s the point of time when I crack.

I can’t answer one more question. I can’t handle one more ball in the air to juggle. I can’t co-ordinate one more plan. I Just. Cannot.

But as I read through the Psalms the other day, I noticed the Psalmists’ desperation.

In many of the psalms, David is desperately needy. And he doesn’t hold back. He is much like the 3-year-old child who constantly demands her mom’s attention.

Just in Psalm 25 alone, David asks God for a whole bunch of things. Let me list them here so we have a clearer picture.

• Show me your ways
• Teach me your paths
• Guide me in your paths and teach me
• Remember your great mercy and love
• Do not remember the sins of my youth
• Forgive my iniquity
• Turn to me
• Be gracious to me
• Relieve the troubles of my heart
• Free me from anguish
• Look at my affliction and my distress
• Take away all my sins
• See how numerous are my enemies
• Guard my life and rescue me
• Do not let me be put to shame
• Deliver Israel from all their troubles

Phew. Talk about a laundry list.

If my kids came to me one afternoon and said, “Show me, teach me, look at me, relieve my troubles…” and tacked on another 11 asks, I would commandeer a tub of Baskin Robbins Dutch Chocolate and hide out in my locked bedroom.

But God is nothing like us. He doesn’t snap. He doesn’t quit. He doesn’t roll His eyes at us when we come to Him with desperate neediness. He doesn’t hide from us. Because of Jesus, you have permission to run to the Throne of Grace as often as you need to.

I love David’s depth of intimacy with God. He knew God’s character so well that he wasn’t inhibited about presenting his requests to God.

Friends, God knows our thoughts and our heart’s desires. We don’t need to censor or curate them. We don’t need to run them through the, “Will this make Him mad?” or the “Is that too many requests?” filter. We can be raw and real with Him.

Of course, we never presume on God’s grace and we never try to arm-twist Him into giving us what we want. But may we also never presume that He is anything like us. While David depended on God for help, he also declared God’s character. Psalm 25 is peppered with assertions about God’s attributes:

• Good and upright is the Lord
• He instructs sinners in his ways
• He guides the humble in what is right
• All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful
• The Lord confides in those who fear him
• Only he will release me from the snare

Could that perhaps be a model for us to follow? While we seek God’s hand, can we remember His face. We get to present our filter-free requests before God because we know His character. When we know Jesus, our requests will be shaped by our relationship with Him.

It’s not a coincidence that the famous “love” passage 1 Corinthians 13 begins with the words,  “Love is patient, love is kind…”

God’s love for you is incredibly, unquantifiably patient and kind. His understanding no one can fathom.  So, go to Him as often as you need to because He is waiting.

 

 

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