1534) In this life, we have enemies. These people may not be on the other side of a rifle, but their ammo can be just as deadly. Sometimes these people may be family members or fellow Christians. When our enemies fit into these groups, the pain can be even greater.

I think the writer of Psalm 42:3 understood this completely. Here he tells us his tears have been like food to him day and night and people question him by asking, “Where is your God?” or, perhaps they are saying, “Where is your faith amid your grief?” This seems to mean you shouldn’t be grieving or suffering if you have genuine faith. After all, you can’t have both at the same time.” But can we?

For grief and suffering to be wrong, then the emotions we have are wrong. Are some feelings OK spiritually and some are not? I don’t believe you can categorize emotions in this manner. Feelings are reactions to things that happen in our lives. They are neither good nor bad, but what we do with these feelings can be.

If the rug has been pulled out from under you, is it ok to feel lost? Hurt? Sad? Angry? Betrayed? Depressed? I think it is, and it appears the writer of this Psalm did too. He tells us outright that he is crying day and night and those who really need to keep their noses out of his relationship with God jump in to say, “Where’s your faith?”

The only one we need to answer to when it comes to these things is God. He is in the faith assessment business because he knows the entire story. Interjecting yourself into other’s spiritual business is taking on the role of God.

People can misunderstand grief, pain, hurt, suffering, heartache, depression, and more. Be encouraged. God does not.