L.E.A.N on God – Nonsense

Leaning on, relying on and deriving support from God is foundational to living our lives well. While we have looked at putting our desire to leave a lasting legacy on God, putting our expectations on God and even putting our anxieties on God, there is one more part of our lives I would like us to consider putting on God. This might unsettle some of you, but here goes… Have you ever thought about putting your nonsense on God? Those silly things we think, do, feel or experience. The things that are inconsequential but still mean a lot to us. The things that have us irritated even when we know we’re overreacting, or the things that have us feeling a little green with envy as we scroll on social media. Do you find it easy to put those types of things on God or do you feel there is no way you are bothering Him with such nonsense?

When we believe that God should not be bothered with our nonsense, we invalidate our relationship with Him. As a mom, I often find myself dealing with nonsense from my children, especially their complaints about each other. I try my best never to make them feel like they can’t talk to me about their stuff, no matter how silly and unnecessary it may seem to me. We do that for our close friends as well. We listen to them rant on about their nonsense because we care about them. If we truly believe that God cares about us and everything happening in our world, putting our nonsense on Him should come as naturally as my three-year-old running to show me an old small scratch to win herself some sympathy or a colourful bandage.

When we look at examples from God’s Word, we see that David was a man after God’s own heart and his life has numerous examples of when he leaned on God. David talked to God about the kind of legacy he hoped to leave. God shared with David how that legacy would reach far beyond just a few generations and that the King of Kings would come from his house and be called the Son of David. David also shared his expectations, anxieties and disappointments from unmet expectations with God. His relationship with God was not superficial, it was vulnerable and tangible, and because of this, David felt free to talk to God even about his nonsense. Judging by his requests that God breaks the teeth of his enemies it is clear that David leaned on God fully.

“Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.” ~ Psalm 62:8

I love this translation of the verse because I use the phrase “you people,” a lot in my everyday vocabulary. And so to all you people reading this, hear me when I say, put your nonsense on God. Sharing the full version of ourselves can only be done with the one we trust. In this verse, we are told to trust God at all times and then further told to pour out our hearts to Him because He is a safe place for us. I don’t know about you but most times what is in my heart isn’t always right, pretty or pristine and if we are to pour out our hearts, everything it holds, there will be some messy, silly and even sinful parts. That is the nonsense I am getting at. Back to David as our example, some of his expressions in prayer to God were borderline evil, but he shared those thoughts anyway and in that God was able to help heal his heart and replace the wrong thoughts with the truth of His Word.

Are you still not convinced? Here are a few practical ways we can put our nonsense on God as we live deliberately leaning on Him.

Let’s put our overreactions on God. Unless you have been living on an island all by yourself, we have all had the opportunity to overreact. Many times in our overreaction, sin is crouching at the door waiting to pounce on us. The best way for us to avoid sinning in such situations is for us to take our overheated thoughts and feelings to God and let the steam blow off at His feet. Sometimes He will let you just get it off your chest and move on, other times He may ask you a question that will help put things into perspective. Either way, God wants you to put the nonsense of your overreactions, justifiable or not, on Him.

Let’s put our pettiness on God. Have you ever just woken up feeling like Petty Betty? If you are married or have a roommate you know what I mean. On such days, everything grates on you. Rather than say everything we are thinking to our roommate, spouse or workmate, we can go to God and have a “The person whom you gave me” moment. It’s okay for us to tell God how we felt when they left the microwave door open for the hundredth time, or how we want to slap them when they throw their socks on the floor. When we put the nonsense of our pettiness on God He will help us manage those feelings so we can better communicate with the ones we love.

Let’s put our envy on God. In this age of social media, the temptation to be envious of others is at an all-time high. Keeping those feelings bottled up inside and pretending we are alright with the fact that we have never been on vacation while so and so goes on once every quarter is not how God wants us to relate with Him. As we relate with God we should openly share our feelings of envy, our complaints and our comparisons of ourselves to other people. Tell Him that you’re mad your workmate got the promotion and not you. Ask Him why you have been following Him faithfully for so long but are still single, yet Miss Just Got Saved Last Month is already married to the most eligible bachelor at church. God already knows what we are thinking but when we put it on Him, we allow Him to remind us what matters, that we are His and that His plan for us is good.

Let’s put our silliness on God. We all have silly moments, silly humour and even foolishness. We can and should talk to God about our silly thoughts, and dreams others may think are silly, regrets, mistakes or even silly challenges like the fact you just started a new diet and all you’re craving is chocolate. Those silly bits and bobs are in our hearts and as we pour our hearts out to God, we should be able to let those things freely flow out too. Having a good laugh with the Lord is something we should practice often and if it’s something you have never done, I encourage you to stop taking yourself so seriously and explore the silly side of your relationship with Him.

The bottom line is that God wants an unedited, warts and all relationship with us. We must get into the habit of being real with God and not just showing the pleasant put-together parts to Him. So remember, lean on God daily. Talk to Him about your legacy, your expectations, your anxieties and your nonsense and watch your relationship grow richer.