I recently received an email that said,” Forgive me, I just needed to vent.” That got me thinking—we all need to “vent” at times. Life is tough and our burdens can get hard to bear. It helps when we can talk about it with someone who cares.
After spending five years teaching the book of Psalms, I was amazed at how patient God is with His people. It startled me to learn that God is not offended when we open up and pour our heart out to Him. In case you didn’t know it, some of the writers said some shocking things about their relationship with God. Some even expressed their feeling that God was treating them as an enemy. That study encouraged me by reminding me that God cares about all our troubles. He knows what is in our heart and He encourages us to express it to Him, appropriately of course.
Friends should feel the same way about each other. One of the advantages of having friends is being able to share our mutual woes, as well as our blessings. While we don’t want to get in the habit of constantly bombarding others with our troubles, it is good to have a friend with whom we can share our feelings. Friends like that are of great value.
Some have made the mistake of taking the “tough guy” approach to their problems. The “I can do it without anybody’s help” attitude isn’t very smart. We do need others, and they need us. That’s why we should work at cultivating friendships. Count yourself fortunate if you have a friend to whom you can “vent”. If you don’t, it would be a good idea for you to become that kind of friend to someone. Remember,” A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly-“(Proverbs 18:24). Think about it!
