When someone asks you how you are doing, you likely say "fine". You may not be doing fine, but that's how we reply. Often, we don't want to burden anyone else with our problems.
One of the many things I love about Scripture, particularly the Psalms, is how honest people are with their feelings. They don't hide their situations. If you ask David how he's doing, he tells you here that trouble is near, there is no one to help, and that his heart is melting like wax as he lays in the dust of death. That's a desperate situation, but the only way forward is to admit that's how he feels. Only when we accept our desperate situation will we be honest about depending on God to carry us forward.
So be honest, to your community of faith and to God. If life is particularly hard, be open about it. It doesn't mean you're weak -- it means you are human. And it also gives others permission to admit their weakness.
Me? I've got 3-4 different joints that hurt, I'm going slightly crazy due to COVID, and I don't know what God has in store for me. I am immensely grateful that we have our health and that the impacts of the last few months have been limited to canceling various things that we were looking forward to, all of them discretionary, but I'm frustrated and uncertain and feeling somewhat pent-up. My enemies aren't roaring like a lion and it doesn't feel like I'm in the dust of death, but that's where I'm at.
What about you? How are you honestly doing? How can I pray for you?
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