Today We Lament

If you've ever been crushed in spirit, then you know that it is the most lonely, desolate place a soul can be. God knew this, and so he spoke directly to it. He told us what he will do when we are broken and crushed.

He comes close.

Psalm 34:18 is the verse I live by, because I have lived it. I have known the closeness of Jesus in the place of crushing.

Today, there are many who are crushed in spirit. Two days ago, they were not but today, they are. It feels overwhelming even to the outsider looking on because trauma is, by definition, the result of a painful experience that leaves one feeling helpless or terrified.

We can feel helpless in the face of crisis after crisis. We may even be at the place King David found himself many times when he said "How long, O Lord must I soak my bed in tears?"
(Psalm 6) It is normal to feel this way. It is part of the human experience, and Jesus himself experienced it. He was crushed. He was broken. He wept and lamented so intensely that his sweat turned to drops of blood.

How amazing to think that before He even went to the Cross, Jesus shed drops of blood over you and me. He shed drops of blood because of His deep sorrow and lament for what had to happen. In that moment, the entirety of the world's crushing rested on him, and He bore it through deep anguish. 

Do not let the enemy convince you that Christ is far removed from our pain. He knows our pain even better than we do.

Today, it is good and right to lament. It is holy to shed tears, just as Jesus often did. It is good to cry out and ask for mercy, and an end to suffering. It is okay to express our overwhelming helplessness and anger to God. By doing so, we prove in whom we've placed our trust. 

Not in politics.
Not in presidents.
Not in people. 

We cry out to God, because He alone can save us. Lament is not a lack of faith, but a sign of it.
Only one has the power to heal a broken heart and crushed spirit. Only one has the power to restore all things. Only one conquered the grave so that hope can live forever. 

Today, we lament, because we must. 

May the tears and heart cries be like a river flowing to the throne of God. May we cling tightly to the one assurance we have; Jesus. He is interceding on our behalf. That means he hears our cries. He sees every tear, and He remembers the crushing. And He is with us in it.  
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