How To Be Vulnerable With God

Why should we be vulnerable with God and how can we do so?

Vulnerability is important in any relationship, but it is especially important when growing a relationship with God. Being vulnerable is the act of opening yourself up completely and showing your raw and real self without holding anything back. By being able to do this, you establish a sense of trust with someone, which is one of the most important components and factors of a relationship. Sites such as markmanson.net, bolde.org, and capitalifm.co.ke all list trust as one of the most crucial and fundamental elements of a healthy relationship.

Friend, lets further explore the importance of vulnerability and how apply it in your relationship with God. For me, truly opening up my heart has allowed me to grow closer to God and understand who He is, and I’m confident it can lead you closer to Him as well.

Holding back

As humans, it’s easy to hold things back. I don’t know about you, but I probably wouldn’t go up to a stranger and tell them my deepest secrets or my most difficult life struggles. Vulnerability is so much easier when you know the person and who they are at heart. Are you more likely to open up to someone who is trustworthy and caring or someone who is often judges others and is untrustworthy? That is why it’s so important to understand who God is.

Let’s look at a few truths about who God is straight from the Bible:

• God is forgiving (“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” – 1 John 1:9)
• God is merciful (“The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him” – Daniel 9:9)
• God is caring (“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” – 1 Peter 5:7)
• God is accepting (“Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.” – Romans 15:7)
• God is loving (“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” – John 3:16)

Vulnerability is not always easy because it can open up the door to judgement, criticism, and failure. And as a result, people often hold back on opening their hearts. However, we need to remember exactly who God is and why we don’t need to worry about this when it comes to Him.

God is forgiving, merciful, caring, accepting, loving, and so much more. Of all of these, let’s take a moment to focus on love. In the Bible, God talks about how love triumphs. For instance, 1 Peter 4:8 says “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” 1 Corinthians 13:13 says “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” Colossians 3:14 says “And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” (Click here to read some more comforting verses from the Bible about LOVE.)

Remember: God loves you. This is a phrase that is so simple yet it holds so much power and truth. He wants you to get to Heaven and have eternal life with Him. He sent His one and only son, Jesus, who took up the cross and died to save humanity (as seen above in John 3:16).

Don’t let any fears of judgement or criticism hold you back from being vulnerable with God because God is forgiving, merciful, and accepting; instead, let God’s love and care comfort you and allow you to open up your heart completely to Him. God is for us – not against us. And He will always accept you with open arms. Ask for forgiveness, and it will be given (as seen above in 1 John 1:9).

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An all-knowing God

Here’s a quick story that made me marveled about God:

One night, my dad took my sister, my cousin, and I to look at the stars on the beach. It was a beautiful night – the sky was clear, it wasn’t too chilly, and we were on an island, which meant that there weren’t many city lights surrounding us to illuminate the sky so it would be completely dark. I adore these types of nights on the island because the lack of light brings the starry sky to life. When I sat on the beach that night and gazed at the stars, I was in awe. I could see the Milky Way galaxy, some planets, and stars that appeared seemingly in the millions.

While sitting there, the stars reminded me of this Bible verse: “He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name.” – Psalm 147:4.

Take a second to think about this: God can number the stars and call them each by name! Fun fact: in the Milky Way galaxy alone there are an estimated 1 BILLION stars! (Here’s that number written out: 1,000,000,000!) No one could ever do this – but God can.

The point of this verse is to show that God is omniscient (all-knowing). Psalm 147:5 says “Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.” The Bible tells us that God knows absolutely everything (and I mean everything!). And that includes everything about us.

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God knows everything about you

So, why am I writing about that in this post? Well, as I was sitting there, I thought to myself: Why am I sometimes so afraid to be completely open, honest, and vulnerable with God when He already knows everything, including everything about me?

I realized that was the exact reason I should not be afraid.

Friend, there is no need to hold back from God because He already knows everything about you. So why do we even need to pray to God and ask Him of things? Being vulnerable with God strengthen your relationship with Him by showing your dependance on Him and it is humble acknowledgment that He is the one, true, GOOD God.

Similarly to a relationship with a friend, vulnerable, intimate, honest, and deep conversations only bring you closer together, and prayer is one of the best forms of communication and conversation with God.

Being more open

Now that we’ve uncovered what vulnerability is and why it’s important in your relationship with Christ, how can we be more vulnerable? The answer is simple: completely open your heart to God and willing receive what He has to offer. Lay everything on the table and talk to God through prayer. Share with Him the good. The bad. The embarrassing. The funny. The hurt. The same. The frustration. The pain. The questions. The anger. The joy. The victories. The failures. The emotions.

By opening your heart up to God, your are better able to understand Him and receive Him in your heart. It’s okay to be emotional or confused or overjoyed – just be real, because God already knows deep down how you feel.

God wants us to turn to Him. So give it a try. Let God know everything that is on your heart and don’t hold back. God will listen and embrace you with open arms as the child of God that you are. He will care for you and love you. There is no punishment for turning to God.

Here is a great passage of Scripture that is all about God knowing us and being with us.

Friend, thank you for joining me on this open conversation about vulnerability, its importance in growing closer to God, and how to implement it into your relationship with Christ. I hope that these words (and God’s Word!) provided you with the spiritual encouragement that you need to further seek God and strengthen your relationship with Him. I’ll end this post with the simple yet powerful piece of truth: God loves you.

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