Does pouring gas on a fire help eradicate the blaze; "Surely," we expound, "it must quicken the flame to end its personality faster," right? Or does ranting, like gas, simply raise its potential for harm under the auspices of that piously providential human reasoning? What does the Bible say? Where lies the Spiritual battle here? Is there one?
Is not ranting duplicitous in nature to our Spiritual life concerning our tough days at work? Is it not self-awareness; is it not prideful?
We are told in the Bible that Christians live a life of victory and hope exercised by the presence of the Almighty; yes we need the belt of truth applied to that life because righteousness is real as we go thru Character building by His workmanship, but reality (truthfulness) Spiritually consists always of the Holy Spirit thru-out leading the way, otherwise, it is not a Spiritual reality at all. It is not reality at all. Have we touched the presence of God in allowing our emotions to rant, are we making the right moral choice in doing so? How does it benefit us?? Is it the belt of truth aimed lead by His righteousness found in us or self-awareness found simply for the purposes of venting emotionally operating in the flesh?
The Word tells us to find it joy in and thru all the circumstances we face in our lives for His name sake. For, by faith His glory will be seen thru them, and our character will be forged because of them by His power, not even despite them.
Testimonies are likened to this idea of ranting, only without self-gratification and self-awareness inasmuch as it notes our trials and victories honestly in gaining wisdom in seeing God's Spiritual Truths and sharing them with others. So, I invite testimony and not categorically "ranting" or "haranguing." Ranting is what I see the Bible illustrating for us to guard against.
If my testimony makes anyone wish to emulate me, it is a mistaken testimony; it is not a witness to Jesus.
It is true - It is easier to stand true to a testimony mildewed with age, because it has a opinionated ring about it that people agree with, than to talk from your last moment of contact with God. Yet, Spiritually the later is reality spiritually and not the former. God's economy is life offered thru the Holy Spirit's guise and portion, and His refuge from the world is found in Himself. Sure, we have bad work days and good ones, but there is only one Lord and Christ, and only one life we live, and that is in Christ, found in us, found living in the world. Self-awareness is not reality in Christ, for we have not touched God thru Christ in those moments.
This to me should be, perhaps, prayer requests? Smile....
Hey Slave,
If you're wanting to make prayer requests, awesome.
And prayer requests are certainly always cool.
I have to say though, and maybe God isn't happy about it, that a big part of my own personal testimony for and about Him comes in the form of ranting. Other people rant to me a lot, and every now and then, I sneak in a rumble and a tumble of my own as well (praise God for people who are kind enough to listen to me!) I know different things work for different people, but sometimes this also gives me a great opportunity to talk to them about God, because I tell them that I pray when I'm frustrated and I ask them if they ever talk to God honestly about what's bothering them as well.
Something I've always found interesting is that God Himself seems to go on "rants" throughout the Bible--such as what I'm re-reading through Ezekiel today--and when God lets go, He doesn't hold anything back.
Right now I'm reading the book of Ezekiel, chapter 23, in which God compares Israel and Judah's unfaithfulness to that of "two adulterous sisters... who acted like prostitutes... behaving promiscuously... their (body parts) (made contact with.)"
God goes on to say that the sisters lusted after lovers (other nations and their gods) whose "(body parts) were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of stallions."
(Side note--I have obviously edited this a bit, seeing as when I first found this as a young adult, I actually found this chapter of Scripture to be 100 times more shocking than anything in Song of Solomon and couldn't understand why people made such a big deal out of SOS, because this is GOD directly saying these things. But, maybe that's just me.)
God also talks about the rage and destruction He plans to bring to those unfaithful to Him numerous times, such as in Nahum 3:5, when God declares, "I am against you. I will lift your skirts above your face, and display your nakedness to the nations."
In other words, God is going on a rant. A very, very big rant. And, He's going to tell you exactly how He feels, and what He plans to do.
Now again, I could be wrong, and I am certainly NOT saying you're wrong AT ALL--I'm just giving a different perspective, is all--but I have always taken these parts of the Bible to mean that God Himself... goes on rants--and He doesn't pull punches or mince words--He just lets it all go.
Because of this, I believe that He very much understands our rants as well, which is why I'm never afraid to bring mine to Him, and I say it in the way I want to say it, which means it's not prettied up the way most people would want.
So... with God Himself as our example... and this is just for me... but I try to live out a policy of raw honesty before God (that will most likely come out in the form of a rant), and again, maybe I'm wrong for this, but I always encourage others to bring their own rants before God as well.
At the very least, the one thing I'm always most thankful for (and tell Him so) is that He loves me enough to listen to my honest feelings. And I know He hear ALL of our rants, whether we tell Him alone, or share within the body of believers. Your post was a nice reminder to pray for people going through even daily things, because God tells us to cast ALL our cares on Him (1 Peter 5:7), not just the ones that "count" or "seem big enough."
I certainly don't mean any disrespect to you at all, and I'm certainly not saying that we, as Christians, should become people who complain all the time.
But, I do think it's important for us to remember that God cares about every detail within our lives, and that means even our rants.
One of my favorite passages of all time is when Isaiah 63:9, in which God talks about the plight of His people: "In all their distress, HE TOO WAS DISTRESSED... In His love and mercy, He redeemed them; He lifted them up and carried them all the days of old."
I must confess. I have a rant (or maybe 2 or 3.) I might not be writing about it here, but... I am bringing it to God... but it's certainly not a prayer or statement of all thanksgiving and roses and sunshine.
But, I know He listens, no matter how unsightly of a rant it might be. And, for that, I am ever thankful.
Much respect to you and God bless.