This morning, I woke with a single thought on my mind: it's okay to lament. It's okay to feel sorrow.
It's not disrespectful to our Shepherd to acknowledge that we're journeying through a dark valley in the shadow of the coronavirus. And we find hope in the empty grave. After all, the resurrection of Jesus reminds us that our worst day is not our last day. But that doesn't mean we should ignore our sorrow or bottle up our grief.
Rather, we follow David's example in the psalms of lament, as he poured out his emotions, his doubts, his fears. We do so knowing that our God is big enough to handle our emotions. And as David reminds us,"Though sorrow may last through the night, His joy comes in the morning." (Psalm 30:5)
So below I've shared the poem that flowed out of my heart this morning. Admittedly, it's not so much a song of lament as it's a song of permission to lament. But perhaps that's what we need this morning: permission to lament.
It's not disrespectful to our Shepherd to acknowledge that we're journeying through a dark valley in the shadow of the coronavirus. And we find hope in the empty grave. After all, the resurrection of Jesus reminds us that our worst day is not our last day. But that doesn't mean we should ignore our sorrow or bottle up our grief.
Rather, we follow David's example in the psalms of lament, as he poured out his emotions, his doubts, his fears. We do so knowing that our God is big enough to handle our emotions. And as David reminds us,"Though sorrow may last through the night, His joy comes in the morning." (Psalm 30:5)
So below I've shared the poem that flowed out of my heart this morning. Admittedly, it's not so much a song of lament as it's a song of permission to lament. But perhaps that's what we need this morning: permission to lament.
Let It All Out
A Psalm of Lament
and the tempest winds rage,
When the storms of life threaten
to sweep us away,
It’s ok to feel sadness;
it’s ok to ask, “Why?”
God's not diminished
by the tears in your eye.
He can handle your worry,
He can handle your doubt,
So stop holding it in,
You can let it all out.
Sometimes it seems like
our Father's not home,
That He can't hear our cries,
that we lament alone.
But the Spirit that raised Jesus
and rolled away the gravestone,
Draws near to bring comfort
and to interpret our groans,
So in this time of trouble,
if your heart's full of doubt,
Please don’t hold it in,
You can let it all out.
*****
We grieve, but we do not do so as those who have no hope. And tomorrow we will celebrate the fact that since Jesus lives, so does our hope. If you don't already have a church community to celebrate Easter with, then I invite you to join me online at 10AM. Just go to lighthousecommunity.com and click on "Live Stream." And feel free to share this invitation with others in your Sphere of Influence. After all, we are all walking through this dark valley, and we all need to be reminded that our hope lives.
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