Psalm 44:23-26

How do you respond to pain and suffering?

That single concept is considered to be THE issue for people who are struggling to believe in a good and loving God.

Yet I think it is also THE issue for people of faith.

I have found there are three most common responses to pain and suffering by believers.

1 – Protestant Pollyanna Response – This is when we try to wrap up disappointment, pain, and suffering neatly up in a bow by citing a favorite scripture or some other well-worn/ well-rehearsed christianeese. Like this one, “Remember, God won’t give you…more than you can handle.”

2 – Christian Time Warp Response – We try to ignore the present pain and suffering by focusing in on the future victory promised. As followers of Jesus we do tend to focus on the resurrection more than the crucifixion. And if you need proof, just compare Good Friday church attendance with Easter attendance. I have actually had congregation members tell me that they refuse to go to Good Friday because it’s sad and doesn’t make them feel good like Easter does.

3 – The Dazed and Confused Believer – This response is the Sound of Silence. Where we try to ignore the issue altogether, suffer inwardly without sharing anything out loud and hiding away from very real struggles and doubts out of fear of being judged as weak in the faith.

But the scriptures invite us to a better response. The scriptures invite us to LEARN TO LAMENT.

A Lament is a song of mourning or sorrow. Laments are for times of bereavement, personal trouble, national disaster or the judgment of God.

1. Over one-third (50 or so) of the psalms are laments. Lament also shows up in the Book of Job, and from the prophets.

2. One whole book, Lamentations, expresses the confusion and suffering felt after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians.

Lament doesn’t try to wrap up suffering in a bow or Christian phrase, it doesn’t try to look forward beyond the moment, and it doesn’t just sit there silently taking it.

Instead, it accepts pain and chooses not to avoid the present suffering. It acknowledges real hurt and pain and then takes it to the only One who can help, that is the Lord God.

Psalm 44:23-26 (NLT) gives us an example of LAMENT –
Wake up, O Lord! Why do you sleep?
Get up! Do not reject us forever.
Why do you look the other way?
Why do you ignore our suffering and oppression?
We collapse in the dust,
lying face down in the dirt.
Rise up! Help us!
Ransom us because of your unfailing love.

While it might not feel very SUNDAY-like to sing this hymn, these words come from a very strong heart of faith. While singing it to the Lord, it acknowledges the real experience of pain and suffering while also placing hope in God’s UNFAILING LOVE. That is a powerful statement of faith and I believe becomes more so in the face of pain. In fact, the LAMENT is a song that non-believers can relate with and we with them.

Learn to Lament…this is discipleship…following Jesus, being changed by Jesus, and being committed to the mission of Jesus.

Prayer
Lord God, so often in our lives we are geared and longing for those great moments, those victory moments, the moments of peace, the moments of praise, the moments where we can really stand up and lift up our voice with joy. But there are also those moments that we encounter in this world, moments of pain. You demonstrated how to lament when on the cross You cried out those words, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” In that very honest, transparent, and vulnerable cry, You were also placing Your life into the hands of Your father and setting for us an example of how we can honestly look at pain, to cry out in pain, to lament, and yet to do so by bringing it to You. For you are our hope. You are our strength. And so, for any of us who are in one of those moments now, we do pray along with the Psalmist today, “Wake up Lord, save us. Move to bring Your salvation to us today. For we trust in your unfailing love.” In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.