Just Be Honest: How to Worship Through Tears and Pray Without Pretending

““Just Be Honest is a rare treasure: a book on suffering I would actually dare to give someone in the midst of their pain. Heartwrenchingly honest about how faith is no stranger to deep pain and how Scripture refuses to oversimplify the struggle with anguish in our souls, this book will connect to the Lord hearts shattered by countless griefs by teaching the piercing, soul-sustaining path of lament.””

““Our God can handle periods on the ends of our sentences of pain. ‘I’m devastated.’ ‘We’re reeling.’ ‘Honestly, I’m really struggling.’ He feels no anxiety to immediately relieve the tension. He is not too fragile for our faith to be fragile. Yet some of us feel the pressure to leave no more than commas, if we leave room for any pause at all. Meanwhile the spirit of our age evokes complaining, wallowing, and unbelief. How might we learn to lament faithfully, as Christians? Clint Watkins has suffered deeply, thought deeply, and knows the deep, deep love of Jesus. Let him share his scarred and recovering soul— and his scarred and majestic consoling King. Jesus does not commend doubt but calls and welcomes us to bring it to him. He gives not only joy in place of pain, but joy deeper than pain in the midst of it. He is a king who can handle your periods, your pauses, and your process.” ”

“Abbey Wedgeworth”

“Clint helps readers discover a legacy of lament that allows us to hope through heartache and trust through tears. Clint has known loss that cannot be assuaged by Christian platitudes, yet he writes beautifully of the consolation he found when he broke his silence with Jesus, the one ‘acquainted with grief.’ Why do I presume that faith means pretending that the Christian life is always cheery and fulfilling? Through his careful unfolding of the biblical witness on lament and complaint, Watkins extended to me the Lord’s permission both to grieve and grieve like a Christian. I suspect he’ll do the same for you.”

“Adriel Booker”

“The compassion and empathy of Jesus may surprise you, and it will undoubtedly comfort you. For those of us who have experienced deep heartache, and for any who have walked with friends through unimaginable grief, the gems in this book are more precious than gold. Here is wisdom for our sorrows and solace for our pains. Very few people get through this life unscathed by suffering, and Just Be Honest helps us grasp that reality that Jesus is ‘hospitable to heartache’ and that ‘hurting people need to be heard.’ Absorbing and applying these truths can save your faith and help you brave the brokenness of life with those you love. Whether you are amid sorrow currently, preparing for sorrow eventually, or walking with others through their sorrows sympathetically, this book will prove to be a masterful guide!”

“Clint helps readers discover a legacy of lament that allows us to hope through heartache and trust through tears. Clint has known loss that cannot be assuaged by Christian platitudes, yet he writes beautifully of the consolation he found when he broke his silence with Jesus, the one ‘acquainted with grief.’ ”