L(am)ent

I was just going through emails that I hadn't read this past week, and opened this from CRM, the umbrella ministry of InnerChange.

"Today is the first day of Lent.

It’s a bit ironic, given the other focus of February 14th, but today marks the beginning of a season on the Christian calendar dedicated to suffering—the suffering of the crucified Christ, the suffering of a broken world. Ultimately, Lent points us to the hope of the resurrection and the day when every tear will be wiped away (Rev. 21:3), but until then we admit that things here are not as they should be.

Suffering is not an easy subject. Most of us prefer to focus on more cheerful topics and stick to polite conversation. We like stories with trials only if they have tidy resolutions, unambiguous happy endings. Even in church, a place to admit our brokenness and find healing, we often avoid engaging with ongoing suffering. Who wants a sermon on how to lament?

But suffering is a part of life. It reminds us of our limits and causes us to slow down. It shakes our assumptions. It ignites our fears. Suffering forces us to recognize our weakness and our need for a power greater than our own. And then, in that suffering, we discover the one who walks with us through it. We remember the one who came to bring good news to the poor, to comfort the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and favor for those who mourn. In suffering, we find Jesus, our great good news...

Our hope is that these posts can be a space where we learn how to walk the road of pain from each other, where we learn to reach out to the God who is with us right in the midst of suffering. Because facing the reality of pain in a broken world can change the way that pain affects us.

The path of suffering can be a sacred path to knowing the compassionate heart of God. But in order to know that heart, we have to walk the road.

As you read these reflections from fellow pilgrims, it is our hope that no matter what suffering you might encounter, you will realize that you are not walking alone—and that maybe, in some way, you’ll find a little more light to go on when things seem dark.

Blessings to you,
The CRM Communications team"

-------

Here's the link to their blog.

It is so refreshing to hear other believers pressing and leaning into the pain and suffering. I tend to want to run from it or long for the day when it isn't there anymore. And yet, God is slowly shifting my paradigm that suffering is bad and undesirable. The truth is that is is unavoidable. Jesus said, "In this world you will have trouble." He didn't say you might suffer; you will. And yet, He didn't stop there. He continued saying, "But take heart! I have overcome the world" (John 16:33b). I have always jumped to this half, but I just looked up the verse again, and read the first part, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace" (John 16:33a). The trouble and suffering is sandwiched between peace and hope. Thank You, Lord Jesus. We are never alone, and with You, there is peace and hope. 

Last year, my mom gave me a magnet that says, "Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass. It's about learning how to dance in the rain." (All truth is God's truth, as my Systematic Theology professor has said.) Though secular words, they paint a beautiful picture of what life with Jesus, storms and all, looks like. 

Lord, please continue to teach me how to lament, drawing me closer to You and shaping me so that I am whole and complete, not lacking anything. Help me to lean in and find joy in You, in the valley.