Learning to Lament by Rachel

 

Learning to Lament

by Rachel

 

There are some people who say, “It isn’t right to speak in such a way to God.” Others say, “You should never question Him.” Instead people are expected to use spiritual platitudes that ignore the severity of situations and put God in a box to be controlled or understood. But God is Sovereign and sometimes His thoughts and ways are beyond us.

Lamentations 3 shows that the author, Jeremiah, experienced the wrath of God poured out on His people as promised. Jeremiah also experienced the wrath of his own people who failed to listen to his words and treated him as less than humane. Jeremiah is a tried and true prophet. He speaks truth. His emotions are raw. They are public. They are real. He doesn’t hide them. He doesn’t think God’s Sovereignty is at stake.

Jeremiah Stated:
He (God) has driven me. (3:2)
He makes me walk in darkness. (3:2)
He has turned His hand. (3:3)
He has caused my flesh and my skin to waste away. (3:4)
He has broken my bones. (3:4)
He has besieged and encompassed me with bitterness and hardship. (3:5)
He has walled me in (3:7)
He has made my chain heavy. (3:7)
He shuts out my prayer. (3:8)
He has blocked my ways. (3:9)
He has made my paths crooked. (3:9)
He has turned aside my ways. (3:11)
He has torn me to pieces (3:11)
He has made me desolate. (3:11)

Can you imagine if someone came into your church and said these things about God? How would you feel? Would it make you a bit uncomfortable?

Recently, I listened to Diane Langberg who is an abuse counselor. She said that most people shut down victims because the victims experience fails to fit into their nice boxes about God. He is good and loving. He is in control and Sovereign. Many times, people see the victims as a threat to their own faith and so they seek to keep them silent.

Jeremiah concluded that happiness was forgotten. That His strength and even his hope perished. According to Strong’s Hebrew this means that Jeremiah’s expectation has wandered away.  (19) Think of a child that wanders from their mother in a department store. Think of a wanderer who vanishes in the mountains. The expectation or hope of Jeremiah departed.

And yet, after his complaint, Jeremiah prayed.  He asked God to remember His affliction and his bitterness. He directed His soul to remember. He clung to the Lord’s lovingkindness and compassion. He stated that God, not circumstances or man, was his portion. He trusted in the goodness of God. He sought Him and His salvation. (3:21-26)

Jeremiah’s Hope Remained:
I recall in my mind therefore I have hope. (3:21)
The Lord is my portion therefore I have hope.  (3:24)

Think about your own life. Think about your community. There are times of great disappointment and grief. There are times of discipline. There are unwanted circumstances and insurmountable losses. I think of a specific time in my life where I felt abandoned by God. I was hesitant to share my emotions with Him. I felt unfaithful. I felt it was a sign of unbelief. The more I waited the stronger the emotions grew. How can a loving God cause ______? How could a good God allow_____?

It was during that time that I needed friends to listen and sit with me. I didn’t need a nicely wrapped verse or Christian quote. I didn’t need a long prayer. I didn’t a long list of things to do. I needed to speak, and I needed others to listen. Then, I needed to remember His lovingkindness and compassion that I could trust.

I enjoy the Lord of the Rings stories. There is a particular scene in the Two Towers where a group is preparing to fight the enemy. They are greatly out-numbered and even young boys and old men are called upon to fight. One young boy is rightly scared. He shared with Aragorn (the long-awaited King) that everyone concluded that the battle was hopeless. Aragon simply replied, “There is always hope.” There is always hope.  

We shouldn’t be afraid of our pain or questions. We shouldn’t be afraid of others’ pain or questions. We should allow room for the conversation and we should invite honesty. We should allow room for people to think that hope has wandered off. And we should patiently encourage trust in His lovingkindness and compassion offered in abundance to those who cling to Him.

Is it easy or hard to be honest with God about your emotions?
Do you allow others to freely share their emotions?
Where is the object of your hope?

Father, help us to lament well. Give words to our feelings. Help us to be honest. Help us to encourage others to be honest. And, help us to trust in your lovingkindness and compassion offered to us in abundance each morning. May we hope in You when all seems lost.