When I was a kid I learned no one wanted to hear me cry.
When I was little, I had a temper like a small hurricane. I didn’t like to be teased and would become angry and cry if anyone teased me. I was always told, “Go to your room and cry. No one wants to hear you crying.” So I did.
But my temper tantrum just didn’t end there.
You see, the way our house was designed, my bedroom was, I think, supposed to be a family room. It had two doors opposite one another so that it functioned as a hallway between the dining room and the back hallway where the bathroom and other bedrooms were. When I was sent to my room, I would run into the room and slam one of these two doors.
Because of some principle of physics that I don’t even remotely understand, the door would not completely close and the slamming would cause the other door to fly open and hit the closet. So then I would run over and slam that door, with the same result, until my mom yelled, “Quit slamming those G** damned doors!”
The belief that no one wanted to hear me cry or witness my temper tantrums stuck with me for a long time. The way I always interpreted that statement was that no one cares how I feel. When bad things happened to me later in life, I told no one because I didn’t think they would care. When I was the most depressed, I kept it a secret because I was ashamed of feeling so bad and didn’t want to waste anyone’s time.
It turns out that many of the things we learn as kids just aren’t true. This is one of those things. Okay, so maybe there are people who don’t care. A lot of them. But there are also people who do care. People, like me, who when they ask “How are you?” they really want to know, even if how you are is horrible. The world is full of loving, compassionate people who have struggled just like you and me, and want to help us find a way through the temper tantrum of the day.
And even if you can’t find anyone in your life who cares, Jesus cares.
John 11:35 records that “Jesus wept.” Why was He weeping? Not because Lazarus was dead, for He knew death was not the end of Lazarus. Jesus wept out of compassion for those who mourned the death of Lazarus.
In 1 Peter 5:7, the apostle wrote, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” He really does, you know. And so do His followers, though sometimes they don’t know how to show it.
Broken Believers 
I totally relate. Your family must have gone to the same school as mine. I’m grateful now, because in the end it has driven me to the Lord’s feet.
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And Linda, thank you. Sweet and good thoughts. I was pretty old before I realized that i could cry, snivel and even YELL AT GOD and He is big enough to take it. And He wants to hear from me. Thank you for sharing your insight!
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this is for Bryan. just a sweet meditation . . .
From: Scotty@grace4us.net
To: Scotty@grace4us.net
Subject: So Much Encouragement, Peace, and Hope
Date: Tue, 2 Jun 2015 10:31:59 +0000
So Much Encouragement, Peace, and Hope
Praying through Romans 5:1-5
5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Dear heavenly Father, to meditate my way through this whole passage is like standing in front of a fully open fire hydrant of grace. There’s so much encouragement, peace, and hope coming at me. I praise, bless, and adore you for already declaring me to be righteous in your sight. I have peace with you, because you made your peace with me through the finished work of Jesus.
2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
And now, I have perpetual access into your holy and joyful, welcoming and transforming presence. I’m no longer weighted down with guilt because I’m standing in your grace. I no longer fear the future and things I cannot control; I rejoice with hope, because I know that one Day your glory will cover the earth, and that you will, at last, make me fully like Jesus. Hallelujah!
3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,
Father, you even give me grace to rejoice in my sufferings, because in Christ, there don’t have to be any wasted sufferings. As you take me deeper into the riches of this gospel, free me more and more from my whining, complaining, and pouting, Father. Increase my endurance in storylines that otherwise wear me down and use me up; transform my character to make me more like Jesus—especially his humility and kindness; and supersize my hope, lest I foolishly settle for some form of quick relief.
5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
Ah yes, Father, keep pouring more and more of your love into my heart, so there’ll be less and less room for shame, foolishness, anger, anxiety, pride, and a whole lot of others things that contradict the gospel. I am yours by grace; and you are by mine, by grace. It is enough. So very Amen I pray, in Jesus’ glorious and loving name.
Bryan, we love you and we are praying for you!
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