If the year 2020 could be summarized in one word, what word would you use? Some of the words that come to mind include: chaotic, hardship, suffering, confusion, grief, trials, loss, difficult. Whatever adjective or noun you choose to describe this past year, it it likely yours denotes some type of negative connotation.

Indeed, we went through a tumultuous presidential election, riots in the streets, police shootings and community shootings, natural disasters, and of course a world-wide pandemic! Our lives significantly changed in ways that are indescribable. Some of our loved ones have passed and their void is still palatable. One word that comes to mind as I reflect on 2020 is “lament.”

Dictionary.com defines the word “lament” as: a deep expression of sorrow, regret, or grief. Lament is expressed. It is felt. It involves our feelings and emotions. It is a cry of the heart. In some cultures people beat their chests when expressing their lament. But is lamenting good or bad?

I believe the answer to that question depends on whether or not we channel our lament toward God. Otherwise, we will continue to feel hopeless.

Lamentations

The Bible is filled with laments, both communal (Psalms 44; 60; 74; 79; 80; 83; and 89; Isaiah 63; Jeremiah 14; and Habakkuk 1) and individual (Psalms 3–7; 10–14; 16–17; 51–59; 61–64; 69; 71; 73; 77; 86; 88; 102; 109; 120; 130; Jeremiah 11; 15; 17–18; 20; numerous texts in Job). In fact, there’s a book titled “Lamentations.”

Old Testament scholar, Walter Kaiser, lists 7 different types of lament:

1. An invocation
2. A plea to God for help
3. One or more complaints
4. Confession of sin or an assertion of one’s innocency
5. An imprecation on one’s enemies
6. Confidence that God will respond
7. A hymn or blessing

Psalm 13:1 may be one of Scriptures most well known laments. Further, it may describe how you feel or have felt this past year:

How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?

Emotions were given to us by God. They were designed by God as a means to express pleasure and distress. Kaiser pointedly adds,

All too frequently we fault form and order in worship services when the real culprit is the dry spring of our own hearts. Therefore, in times of grief and trouble, it may be well to let the river run deep in our praying, preaching, and conversation. In this way, Lamentations, like the other laments, forces us to deal with suffering by directing our despair not away from God, but toward him – Walter Kaiser, Preaching and Teaching the OT

Benefits of God-Directed Lament

It is clear from Scripture that our lament is important to God. In Scripture laments serve to bring awareness of a wrong done, it helps people process grief, and it helps us develop a healthy theology of suffering. God may allow suffering in our lives as a means of sanctification. He uses all things for the good of those who love him (Romans 8:28).

We would be wise to understand …

• That life is fragile and we must make the most of it
• That God suffering is more common than we would like it to be
• That grief, pain, sorrow, and hurt often times lead us closer to God
• That God is okay with our emotional distress – he can handle it
• That our cry to God for help deepens our understanding of God
• That even though we may suffer loss, God is always present, hears our prayers, and is always ready to comfort

Now, several of my friends have almost verbatim said: “I can’t wait for 2020 to be over!” As if the changing of a calendar year will bring about a more desirable life outcome for all of us. The likelihood of that happening? Not high. Though yearly calendar changes steer people toward the direction of change, our lives will still be affected by the ills of our fallen world.

So I would like to encourage you to do the following as you enter a new year:

1. Cherish every moment God gives you with your friends, loved ones, and close acquaintances
2. Walk and seek the Lord daily through prayer and the reading of Scripture
3. Offer up your anguish, dreams, struggles, goals, fears, and plans to God so his wisdom is you guide
4. Hold loosely to your material things, for they won’t last long and you won’t take them to the grave with you
5. If you experience great loss in the next year (or are currently experiencing it), don’t forget this world is not our home – we are just passing through.

Finally, do not lose heart. Remember that God’s love for you is constant. It does not fade. There is nothing that can separate us from Christ’s love!

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: ‘For Your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:35–39)

Written by Daniel Messina

Read another one of my articles: https://thepreachersdevoblog.com/resolved/