In other words...Lament

What is the worst situation in your life or your friend’s life right now? Consider such a question as you read.

The world is full of lament, of crying out to someone or something. Lamenting takes place when we realize that the world is not as it should be. Somehow, the order has broken down. God desires peace in this world and we all know what life is like and that peace does not exist. There is death, fighting, tragedy. There are things that make us sad and upset. Basically, we have broken the covenant with God and with one another. And lament is a response to the consequences of the broken covenant. Lament is the act of both asking why and giving over our situation to God for his deliverance. It is not a lack of faith to ask God why. Instead lamenting is a hopeful practice because we are confident that God will hear and act. It is saying, “God, I can’t handle it anymore. It is too much. Please take care of it. Please help me. Please deliver me.”

So what makes us lament? There are plenty of things that we cry out about. We get upset when we find an imperfection that makes us less attractive to the world. We get upset when we don’t get the appreciation we think we deserved. We get upset when someone cuts us off in traffic. We get upset when we can’t get something to work right—a car, computer, project. We get upset when a sibling or co-worker seems to get preferential treatment over us. We get upset over a lot of things.

And I wonder—are those things worth lamenting about? Or perhaps, are those even real laments? It seems that the things that make us sad and upset are often pretty petty. I put those things in the category of whining, not lamenting. Often our sadness is a symptom of something greater that we should be focusing on. An imperfection is not worth crying about, but culture dictating what is beautiful is. Do you see the difference? We are not upset about the right things. These are small things. If we can get upset about these small things, how much greater should our lament be for the things of the world that are far worse?

Do you know what’s going on in the world? Do you know about the suffering of the world? Does it break your heart? Do you know about the lives that are being destroyed by divorce and abuse? Do you know about the murders and rapes that are taking place in Africa? Do you know about the mistreatment of Christians in various countries? Do you know? Do you care? Or is a zit more important?

When we understand that there are things in this world worth lamenting about, we must understand that just crying and yelling at God is not the end of it. God has enabled us to have and practice a hopeful lament. In other words, we can believe that God will make things better. There is a saying out there, “Life’s not fair; get over it.” Such a mindset just says, life sucks; too bad. But that flies in the face of the lament. When we cry out to God, we must understand that God wants to enact change in this world and make it better. God is pained by our pain just as much as we are. Do you get that? It is not like getting a hair in your soup, calling for the manager, and then him making you happy. That manager just wants to keep the customer happy. But when awful things happen to us or people we know, God is saddened. God is angered. God is pained. God wants to bring about that Shalom. Enter Jesus:
“Jesus, our High Priest, understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same temptations we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it.” Hebrews 4:15-16

Whether he directly intervenes like we see in the Exodus story, or uses us or other people to make life better, Lament does not end with crying out. It moves on to hope that salvation will come. We may never see the deliverance come. It may have to wait. But this does not change our hope. And from hope comes praise. We praise the God who cares enough about us that he hears our cries and is moved to action. It is a movement—sadness to lament to hope to salvation and finally to praise.

The world is screwed up. Injustices are done. Life is "unfair." People think they aren't getting what they deserve. Our response is Lament. And if we want to be like the God who sympathizes with our weaknesses, we will share people’s hurts and burdens. When we figure out what is lamentable and we are brought to sadness because of it, we are able to share the injustices that other people experience.

“Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.” Romans 12:15

“Share each other’s troubles and problems, and in this way fulfill Christ’s command to love one another.” Galatians 6:2

Recall that original question: "What is the worst situation in your life or your friend’s life right now?" Cry out to God in response to that situation. Then wait expectantly on the God who hears and comes down to save.