This Week: Naming What's Real
On Sunday, we launched our Holding It Together sermon series by naming the hard truth that avoidance doesn’t bring peace. When life feels overwhelming, our instinct is often to push it down, numb it out, or keep moving—anything to avoid sitting with what’s hard. But in Psalm 55, we see that the psalmist does the opposite. Instead of pretending everything is fine, he brings his fear, his frustration, his full self before God.
That’s what lament is. It’s not complaining—it’s telling the truth in God’s presence. It’s saying, “God, this is not fine, but I trust You to hold it with me.”
We often think we have to protect God from our emotions—like if we admit our fear, doubt, or exhaustion, we’re failing in faith. But the good news is: God can handle it. And what we don’t name, we can’t heal.
So this week, let’s try it for ourselves.
Below, you’ll find a Feelings Wheel—a tool designed to help put words to what’s stirring inside. Because before we can bring something to God, we first have to recognize it within ourselves.
Once you’ve identified a feeling, take it through this three-step process:
1. Acknowledge the Feeling
How do I feel?
Why do I feel this way?
What do I feel is at stake?
Sit with it. Name it. No judgment, just honesty.
2. Relate & Receive
Take this feeling and bring it to God. Say it out loud, write it down, or sit with it in silence. How does God receive it?
Is there a passage or image from scripture that comes to mind?
As you sit with this feeling, notice: Do you feel God’s presence with you in it? Maybe nothing shifts right away, and that’s okay. But what would it mean to trust that God holds this with you?
This is the heart of lament—offering our emotions to God and trusting that God can take it.
3. Respond
What will your next step be?
Is there an action to take, a word to speak, a boundary to set, or a practice to continue?
This might be as simple as releasing the feeling into God’s hands, resting in the assurance that you are not alone.
Not sure what to do with your feeling?
And here’s something extra: Not sure what to do with what you’re feeling? Send it our way. Reply to this text with your feeling, and we’ll send back a scripture that meets you right where you are.