God’s Faithful Provision: From Lament to Praise
As we come to the end of another year, my heart is full as a result of reflecting on all the Lord did this year.
One thing I have truly come to realize this year is that there is always going to be something hard, challenging, negative, less than ideal, etc. that we can choose to focus on; life is not short of hardships and difficulties. However, when we become so engulfed in such things and forget to acknowledge and praise the Lord for the several good things and blessings, we become so heavily engrossed in our circumstances and our hearts fill up with despair.
Now, please do not get me wrong, it is perfectly okay to acknowledge the challenges and difficulties in our lives. Oftentimes, as we are learning to surrender them to the Lord, we walk through a period of grieving, anger, frustration, questioning, etc. This is the place we cannot stay, though. Feelings are real and valid, yet they do not dictate the truth and/or our true reality, especially for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Lament is a word and a discipline I learned a lot about this year.
Mark Vroegop wrote in his book Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy “Lament is the honest cry of a hurting heart wrestling with the paradox of pain and the promise of God’s goodness. Lament is how we bring our sorrow to God. Without lament we won’t know how to process pain. Silence, bitterness, and even anger can dominate our spiritual lives instead.”
You see, lamenting is how we, as Christians, are called to grieve and navigate life’s hardships and circumstances.
The Lord does not expect us to ignore or dismiss our feelings and thoughts as a result of the various trials, hardships, difficult circumstances, etc., however, He does ask us to bring them all to Him, entrust them to Him because He cares about us (1 Peter 5:7), and remember His goodness and faithfulness that have been evident for generations and generations. He truly is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8), so we can trust that He has not left us and that He has everything under control.
We may not agree with or like the things that we are walking through, but that does not change God’s character.
As we begin to dwell on God’s character and the Truth of His Word in the midst of our difficult circumstances, we are able to find some hope and peace to continue persevering, even when the circumstances are far from letting up or changing. A comfort I found from Scripture is the fact there have been plenty who have lamented and wrote down their laments, such as David in the book of Psalms, Job in his book, and Jeremiah in the book of Lamentations. I am grateful the Lord included these laments in His Word; He has given us the help and guidance to know how to walk through such emotions and thoughts, along with the words to offer up to Him, when we are at a loss for words and overcome by our feelings.
This is a gift. And this is a testimony of the Lord’s love, kindness, care, and faithfulness to us. He knew our humanness and our frailty. He knew we needed help and guidance as we waded through the effects of sin - our own sin nature, the sin of others, and a world the has been tainted by sin.
Lamenting is a place where God’s sufficient grace carries us and sustains us.
True Biblical lament is a place where we acknowledge the cries of our souls and seek to entrust/surrender them to the Lord.
True Biblical lament is a when we choose to not stop with only expressing the agony of our souls; it’s when we fight to conclude our cries with a “however”, “but”, or “yet”, and then acknowledge and believe the truth, character, and promises of God.
Lament prayers can go something like this: “Lord, where are you? Have you forgotten me? Do you see my needs? Do you understand my concerns? Do you care? Why won’t you intervene and help? Why won’t you do something? It seems/feels as though you are just sitting and watching but don’t care to come to my rescue and help me through all of this. Please show me how to continue on. Please fill my heart with hope. Please strengthen me to keep walking through this season. Please help me see your ever-present help and continual presence with me. Although my heart grieves over many things, yet I shall praise you! For You are truly good, You are on the throne, and You are fully in control, even in the midst of my grief and suffering. You alone are my fortress and strength. You have never left me and You will never leave me. I can trust You.“
No matter what yours looks like, there is hope, healing, and grace in this process. Lament is a gift from God, and we can find His help, care, peace, hope, etc., in the midst of our hardest days. And even when we have no words or cannot even express what we are feeling or thinking, we can run to His Word and simply read through and pray the lament Scriptures back to Him. This will even help us recall God’s true character when we may find it hard to believe or hard to trust Him.
So, as I have spent this month reflecting on the year - going back to my beginning of the year hopes and goals along with what I sensed the Holy Spirit was going to be teaching me this year - I am honestly not able to say “aha, I succeeded or did everything as well or perfectly as I had hoped.” However, I can say that the Lord was faithful to walk by my side and accomplish everything in me as He has planned and willed.
As I reflect, I am humbled by God’s grace to/for me. In the areas I least trusted Him, He showed me His great care and concern, blessing me more than I imagined was possible. In the valleys and difficult steps of faith, He met me with strength and courage. In my attempts to run away or quit, He helped me grow in remaining steadfast and finding rest, hope, and comfort in His Word and promises. In the temptation to be paralyzed in fear or despair, He taught me to steward my time well and surrender the thoughts and feelings to Him so I could continue moving forward. The Lord regularly answered my prayers, even though it was hard to see sometimes.
The Lord was/is truly my guide, sustainer, and provider.
The Lord is faithful to meet us in the every moment, every step, every thought and feeling, every mountaintop and valley moment.
The Lord is our ever-present help and His grace is sufficient.
The Lord is who He says He is, and we can trust Him and His intentions for us.
No matter how we are ending this year, may the Lord fill our hearts with hope, joy, and peace because He has led us through another year. He has continued to show us great mercy and grace. He has given us this precious gift of life. He has given us a hope and peace that cannot be overcome by this world. He has guided us, sustained us, and provided for us, in more ways than we can even comprehend or see.
May we choose to focus on the beauty and blessings of the year rather than allowing our hearts to grumble or sit in despair. Every single day we have a choice to make: rejoice, complain, or lament. Only two of the three are actually beneficial and life giving.
As you spend time with the Lord these next few days and reflect on the year, spend some time with the following questions:
What was challenging?
What was good/blessings?
Where did I see God answer a prayer this year?
How was God faithful in being exactly what I needed Him to be in a particular moment/situation?
What did God teach me about His character?
Where did I see God’s faithfulness, love, care, grace, and/or provision this year?
May you see that there is truly so much to be grateful for this year, and may the Lord fill you with deep hope and true peace.
Glory be to God for all He has done! Let’s look forward to all He will do in and through us this next year for the sake of His glory and our good.
Soli Deo gloria.