Master Class in Lament: Walking Through Sorrow with Jesus

When we are dealing with lament, we are called to complain, and we we we are called to appeal and remind and express, but we do it all by looking beyond those things to the cross. Because Jesus said, I took all of it upon myself for you. Everything that you face, every why that you have, Jesus took upon himself on that cross. All of your pain, all of your sickness, all of your shame, every diagnosis that came to you and someone you love, every time you had to watch your loved one take their last breath, every single time that you have dealt with the pain and brokenness of your body falling apart, every time you deal with your past, every time you don't fly over it, but instead go through the pain, Jesus said, I took it all. [00:50:43] (50 seconds)  #JesusTookItAll

And so what God says to you in the midst of your suffering, in the midst of the trials, I'm with you in it. That's one question I can't answer. Why? Where are you God in the midst of this? He says, I'm right there with you. I never left you, not for a moment. You're my baptized child. I love you. I walk the journey with you. I lament with you. I cry with you, and I have overcome all of it. I point you to the cross, and not just the cross, but to the empty tomb because death is not the end of the story. The end of the story is Jesus. It's always always Jesus who has overcome every bit of what we face. [00:52:29] (38 seconds)  #GodWithYouAlways

When we hurt, God says, mourn. Go through it, and I will comfort you. In Psalm 23, what does he tell us? He tells us to go through it, even though I walk through through the valley of the shadow of death. I gotta go through it. God doesn't say just pretend. He says, I already know. I know everything about you. I know when a hair falls out of your head. I have them counted, so I know when you're hurting, and I want you to tell me when you're hurting. I want you to bring it to me. [00:44:57] (45 seconds)  #MournAndBeComforted

And there was a lot more. And at the end of that, she said, so maybe it wasn't great. And she said, you're a pastor, you have people come in your office and tell you stories. If somebody came into your office and told you all that, what would you say? I would say, hey, you got some things to work through. And I had things to work through. I had to lament. And so for the first time in my life, I went through it because God says, you've got to go through it. We heard in the beatitude, blessed are those who mourn. [00:44:12] (45 seconds)  #BlessedAreThoseWhoMourn

I took it all for you. I took that addiction. I took that cry. I took that hurt. I took that sickness for you. And I promise you, I will be with you in it. Why do we suffer like this? Well, it's a broken sinful world. Why do we deal with this? It's a broken sinful world, but God says, my son has overcome all of it. And so, this is not the end of the story. But not just that, I will be with you in the midst of it. When Jesus came, they said, call him Emmanuel, which means God with us. [00:51:33] (56 seconds)  #EmmanuelGodWithUs

And then he goes on, why is why is light given to him who is in misery? Why why do you let the sun even rise in the morning? I don't wanna see it, and I don't wanna see my body, and I don't wanna see the emptiness of everything that's around me. Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden, where there's nowhere for me to go? Why? Job gives it to us. He says, for the thing that I fear comes upon me. What I dread befalls me. I am not at ease nor am I quiet. I have no rest, but trouble comes. [00:41:01] (48 seconds)  #QuestionsInDarkness

Job has lost all of his wealth. It was all wiped out in one day. All 10 of his children died in one moment. He discovered all of those things on that one day, and now his body is stricken. He's got sores all over his body, he can't sleep, He is aching. Everything is wrong, and Job gives it to us. Why didn't I die at birth? Why didn't I just come out of the womb and die right then? Why why do I even exist? Why were there knees to accept me and breasts to come and nurse me? God, why didn't you just kill me in that moment? [00:40:13] (42 seconds)  #JobAsksWhy

I love the Psalms. I love the Psalms because they're so honest with what's going on. King David and the other writers, when they were in despair, they said, I am in despair. When they didn't understand why what's going on, they said, God, why are you doing this? Whenever it was going on for a long time, they would say, why is this going on so long? Why is all over the place and we are invited into it? Matter of fact, there's a whole book in the old testament called Lamentations. Just laments. The whole thing. [00:38:22] (33 seconds)  #HonestLamentation