"I don’t know who you turn to when you need a listening ear..."

A thought by Christine Cane, from her book, How Did I Get Here? (p. 32). Thomas Nelson, Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.)

It's great when you have someone.

Christine says, "I don’t know who you turn to when you need a listening ear, when you’re trying to make sense of something that’s happening, and you want to walk in even-if faith, but you are finding it difficult to do. When my mind is racing and I need to get something off my chest, I typically turn to Nick or to one of my dearest friends, as they are the ones who have helped me the most when I’ve needed to look to Jesus and set my anchor once more. Maybe for you that’s your mother, a favorite aunt, or your BFF. For me, what’s been especially hard, though, has been the times when what was weighing on me was so deep, so painful, or too hard to understand that I needed more than what Nick or my friends could give me—like when I wanted to ring the bell. In those times, I’ve needed something more to help me let go of all my what-ifs so I could find my way to having even-if faith. And the something I’ve discovered is a kind of prayer the Bible refers to as a lament."

She goes on, "Though I pray every day, I have found that it’s one thing to talk to God and perhaps another when we really get gut-level honest and pour out our hearts to him—when we trust him with the deepest levels of our true selves and tell him everything. Even the hard things. Especially the hard things. It’s part of how we get from wherever we are to that place of even-if faith. This kind of honesty—this lament—is scattered all throughout the Bible. In fact, one-third of the Psalms are songs or poems of lament. The book of Lamentations is an entire book filled with lamenting. It’s five poems expressing anguish at the destruction of Jerusalem in 587 BC."

She continues, "In the New Testament, Jesus lamented.7 He travailed over Israel. He wept over Jerusalem (Luke 19:41–44). He spilled tears over Lazarus (John 11:35). Before his arrest and crucifixion, in the garden of Gethsemane, he prayed three times to his heavenly Father, his sweat falling like drops of blood to the ground (Luke 22:44). 'If it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will' (Matt. 26:39). And on the cross he cried out, 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?' (Matt. 27:46 ESV).

"When I think of these passages, I see Jesus demonstrating for us what it is to be honest with our Father, to be surrendered to our Father, to be in a place of faith, willing to move forward, but acknowledging the struggle or the pain, all at the same time. I see Jesus lamenting and giving us permission to lament as well. I see him willing to feel what we feel, willing to lament right along with us when things don’t go the way we hope. I see him as human even as he is divine (Isa. 9:6; John 1:1–14; Col. 2:9)."

She then says, "True lament is a form of prayer and surrender. It is a form of worship because it comes to God instead of turning away from God. So often when we face pain, we go the other way. We distance. Lament doesn’t distance. Lament draws near. And as it does, it doesn’t accuse God’s character but takes refuge in his character. It doesn’t say, 'God, you aren’t good,' but 'God, I don’t understand.' It doesn’t say, 'God, I am turning from you because I don’t trust you,' but 'God, I am turning to you because I do.'"

God understands what we feel in whatever we are going through and He wants us to be honest, really honest. So let's not turn away but draw near. Okay?  Yes, yes! #continuethought