Joyce Meyer Daily Devotionals June 19 2023: It’s Okay Not to Be Okay.

SCRIPTURE: I will clothe his enemies with shame, but his head will be adorned with a radiant crown.— Psalm 132:18 (NIV)

Today’s scripture gives us the impression that the psalmist Asaph isn’t having a very good day, and that’s okay. Every day of life isn’t perfect, and there are times when it is good to be honest with God or someone else about the way you feel. Most of the time, if one Christian asks another how they are, the answer is “Fine,” but they are not always fine. They say they are fine, because they think they are expected, as Christians, to be fine all the time. Asaph felt as though God was rejecting him forever and that He was angry with him, and he wrote about it.

We should not complain constantly, but there is a way to be honest about how we are feeling without being negative. Trust God always, but don’t be phony or pretend to be fine when the truth is that you aren’t fine at all.

Sometimes the best way to rid yourself of negative feelings is to talk them out. The psalmist David did this regularly with God, and it was okay. He was also a man of great faith. Don’t feel that you always have to be fine, marvelous, amazing, and wonderful, or that you cannot admit when you are having a rough time and your emotions are not joyful. Even Jesus said, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Matthew 27:46 NIV). He also said, Into your hands I commit my spirit (Luke 23:46 NIV). Even though He felt forsaken, He knew that He wasn’t.

Prayer of the Day: Father, I am grateful that I can always be honest with You about how I feel, yet at the same time never stop trusting You. Help me to be honest with myself about my emotions, amen.