Change Your ACTS

I am half reading a book right now (only half because I just really don’t want to do much “academic” stuff right now…) by Susan E. Isaacs called “Angry Conversations with God”. I knew nothing about it when I picked it up except that it was free and I wanted to be doing something other than Greek before I went to bed at night, but after reading the first few pages I was hooked. Something about being extremely blunt and straight forward with God is very appealing to me.

Forgive me if this is a re-write of sorts of an old post (honestly I don’t keep track of them, I just write what is on my mind), but I am a huge fan of the being real with God. Yes, he is God and yes, he is just slightly important, but that doesn’t mean that you have to always be loving and happy and the world is perfect with him. Some of my best nights for sleeping have been after I completely unloaded on God, everything that was good and bad, tears, maybe a bit of cursing here and there, and just saying what was really on my mind. Things that you can’t tell to your friends or family, or maybe just don’t even want to say out loud- he knows them all, so why not take advantage of the fact that he is always loving and already knows it, and just finally say it?

Well, the premise of this book is that this girl feels like while God loves everyone, he has deserted her. A lady from church reminds her that her relationship with God is like a marriage, so the main character (Susan, I believe) takes God to marriage counseling. Crazy concept, but very interesting… Well, she sits down with a counselor and personifies God in conversations as she works out what is going on. It get’s brutal at points. I love it.

All of this is a reminder to me to not block out the things that are wrong in life. Every night I try to make a point to pray before I go to sleep and I go through the ACTS thing that I learned growing up (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication) which is very helpful, but where is there room to vent? “God, you are great. I screwed up today. Thanks for everything. Amen.” Really?? How often is that really what you want to say to God? How often is life good enough that you can completely ignore all the crap throughout the day (sorry to be so blunt, but isn’t that what this about?)? I think it does us all some good to completely let go and put it all out there.

Last night, I had a very enjoyable dinner and evening with one of my best friends. We talked about everything, really. However, I am sure I wasn’t the only one that may have held a few things back during parts of the conversation. 2+ hours of being completely open, but not. There are just some things that no one wants to say out loud because we might be ashamed, or maybe it just makes it too real, or maybe it just hurts. While we would like to think that we can be 100% open with our friends, we know that we never are. However, with God, you can be and you should be. Trust me, he can handle it.

So, all this being said, I am sure there are some people that are still saying that you can’t yell at God or be angry with him, you should fear him and never cross that road. This is my response- when you get in an argument with someone, don’t you ask them to change something, or take some action to help you in some way? Don’t you ask for guidance in some way or for forgiveness? So really, by venting and handing it all over to God, you are first and foremost handing over all control and recognizing that God is the one who is control, but you are asking him to take control. In a way, you are showing how much you adore him by giving him everything. You are making yourself humble and fully available to God. You are being completely earnest. You are taking part in the only REAL relationship in your life, one that is so much more than a marriage but that seems to be the best way for us to describe it.

So, here is my challenge to you- be REAL with God. Let it all out and get it off of your chest- hand over all control! After all, he knows it all anyway and is already in control, but your recognition of that will do a world of good for both you and your relationship with God. Plus, you feel better! A little less stress, a little more relief. You can approach your earthly relationships with a bigger smile, and who knows, maybe the REAL approach will slowly start to blend in with these other relationships and that could do some really crazy stuff to strengthen them and make them that much better!

Don’t be afraid to change your ACTS up sometimes… “Anger, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication” aint all that bad really. But never forget the straight forward adoration… that’s always a good thing ;)