There are times when we just can’t see a way out. When all hope really does seem lost. Even very committed Christians can face very, very dark times. Oftentimes we’re afraid to talk about emotions, especially big emotions, that come with suffering seasons. 

In our process of lament, there are times when all we can do is protest. But it’s so helpful to remember that when we protest, we’re still oriented towards God. We’re talking to Him. We can be encouraged that God knows how we speak when we’re desperate and He’s not surprised by our emotions or our desperation. We may have strong passions, but we can still have strong faith. In our protest to God we find so often that it leads us to a point of surrender because we learn that we are fully known and fully loved in the midst of our messiness and desperation. God is not afraid of your big emotions. You’re not too much… even if you’re afraid you are.

Doing a protest journal is a practical tool we’ll walk you through that can help you reach down into the raw emotions of those trials and lay it all out before Him… And it can involve fire, so you don’t want to miss it!

This podcast is made possible by engineers and producers ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Zachary Tate Smith⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Shane Selby⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, executive producer ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Meleah Smith⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠generous donors⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Known Ministries⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ is ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Alex Kocher⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and Brenda Payne. Thank you for listening to our fifth season of Conversational Counseling about suffering.