Daily Devotional – 12/5/17 “Let them vent!”

There are times when, on social media, I see people post statuses out of anger and frustration. Sometimes, this anger and/or frustration is geared toward God because they are in a season of suffering, they cannot understand or they may be fighting some demons we cannot see. Most times, this may be surprising to you, I don’t comment. Why? Because you have to let folk vent and go through. And I don’t know if you know this or not but when a person is angry and upset, they do not receive what you’re trying to say anyway and consistently bombarding them will only drive them away. Just bypass the status and hush. Now, this doesn’t apply to suicidal rants; that is an entirely different situation that needs to be addressed, immediately. What I mean is, when a person is angry, irritated, at their wit’s end, tired and etc. they tend to not hear anything positive you’ve tried to share. Think about when you are angry, you don’t want to hear anything from anybody, let alone a scripture.

Please don’t misunderstand me. There are times when you can absolutely share the word of God, post a scripture in the comments and offer words of encouragement. However, when there is a person venting who is on the verge of getting evicted, car wouldn’t start this morning, child sick, baby daddy/momma acting foolish, job talking about downsizing and health insurance is about to be canceled; the last thing they will hear and accept is ‘God is good.’ All they see now is the disaster of their storm and no way out. This is why you have to know when it’s time to share and when it’s time to leave them alone. And this time, it may be the latter because the bible tells us in Proverbs 10:19, “When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable, but he who restrains his lips is wise.” You cannot fix every situation, even when you want too. You cannot talk everybody down from the ledge even if you feel it’s your calling. Beloved, this may be a situation you need to leave alone until they’ve had time to calm down. In the meantime, pray for their peace of mind, pray for their eyes to see and their ears to hear clearly. Pray for them but please, do not argue with them over what they should know or how they should handle it. The bible shares in Proverbs 17:27, “He who restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding.” Know when to help and when to hush because this may be the time for you to let them vent.