If I'm having a depressing day, and my tears are falling as fast as the rain down my window pane, I don't have to dry my eyes and pretend to be calm and cheerful in front of God. God knows and understands my heart. God knows why I am crying, and doesn't think less of me because I do so. God doesn't think I am less "holy" because my sadness has overflowed. After all - Jesus wept when his friend Lazarus died. If we weep WITH God, our Friend, we give God a chance to comfort us.
If I'm angry at someone or something, and I try to pretend with myself and God that I'm not, that anger will only fester inside. I have to confront anger, let it sit with me awhile so that I understand it, where it's coming from. Anger is usually a self-protective emotion which arises when part of me feels "under attack." Anger is only "bad" or dangerous, if I let it get out of control and be destructive. Otherwise, anger is a friend trying to help me.
Talking with God about my anger gives God the opportunity to enlighten me and assist me in understanding why I am feeling anger and how I can harness its energy in my life. Anger over injustice, for example, gives me the strength to fight for justice. Jesus felt anger in his life. He made a whip and overturned the tables of the money-changers in the Temple and chased them out because they were thieves cheating the people. God will help us channel our anger to flow out of us in productive ways so that it doesn't literally make us sick.
If I'm deeply afraid, God doesn't expect me to have a stiff upper lip with myself or with Him. Courageous people confront their fear, admit that it exists, - and then decide what to do about it. God will listen to us if we talk to Him about our fear, to decide whether it's harmful or helpful. Maybe we have a good reason to be afraid; maybe our fear is true common sense, telling us that it would be foolish to say or do something, that we could make a situation worse.
But, sometimes, our fear is harmful because it is holding us back. We're afraid that we don't have the talent to do something, for example. Or someone has asked us to do something that we've never done before and we're afraid of the unknown. If we talk honestly with God about this type of fear, God will punch holes in all our attempts to get out of doing something that we not only can do but can do well. God will encourage us to try something new which will grow us into stronger, more fulfilled people. After all, God is the Creator of new things - God is always saying "Behold I make things new." That includes us - we are constantly being re-made, re-formed, to better reflect His Image.
Sometimes fear overwhelms us because we're facing a dangerous unknown. We've been diagnosed with a serious illness. We're enduring physical pain or mental illness or deep worry over someone. Jesus understands this fear. He felt it in the Garden where He shuddered and wept bloody tears. Don't be proud - tell Him your fear, let Him give you the strength to carry this terrible cross of yours, and trust that He carries it with you. He has promised to always be faithful to us, even if He seems hidden and far away. The darkness of fear in our hearts can hide Him from our sight, but He is the Sun, hidden behind a cloud, but still shining.
If you have doubts about your faith, about whether God exists, or about some other teachings about your faith, talk to God - and someone wise - about your doubts. Doubts can be a sign that you are maturing in your faith, that the God you believed in as a little child is too "small" a God for you now. Perhaps, if you've had a trauma in your life, you suddenly realize that God is not the big Super Man who will protect you from every danger, sickness, or death. Now you have to wrestle with God in the darkness, learn to trust this "New" God Who seems to have failed you. But God hasn't failed you. God has a new lesson to teach you. Yes, God cannot and will not protect you and yours from death, sickness, and disaster. What God WILL do is lead you through the darkness into new light and a new life, a resurrection that will always come after a death if we will but wait for it.
God loves us to share our joys with Him. How wonderful it is when we talk to Him about our happiness and our healing! So many people don't. They only talk to Him when they need Him. They forget to thank Him when things go well. But, when we share our happiness and joys with God, those feelings become deeper and mightier because we realize that it is God's activity in our lives that has brought these joys to fruition. We realize with great happiness that God loves us and takes care of us always. Mary, Mother of God, sang to God when she was pregnant and she met her pregnant cousin - who really was too old to be pregnant. She sang "My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord...because he has done great things for me, and holy is His Name..."
God is the best listener. And He hears us even if our prayer is a quiet sigh, or a soft moan, a Thank You or a Why, a Praise You or a Please Help. No words or sighs or moans of ours are foreign to God's ears or His Heart, for He created the human heart and everything that it can feel. What God desires the most from us is that we place our hearts and all their feelings in His Hands. His Hands will raise our hearts to His Heart, where He will hold them close in a loving embrace. As long as we honestly and humbly speak to Him out of the fullness of our love and our trust, we can never disappoint Him. God rejoices when we trust Him enough to share our joys and our sorrows, our doubts, angers, and fears with Him! Only then can He enter our lives and flood us with His grace.
God always, always listens to us and He is the best listener of all. Every day, give Him your thoughts and feelings to listen to! And then listen to Him and what He says back to you in reply: "You are my most precious child, and I am always with you and for you."