You have put me in the lowest pit,
In the darkest depths.
Your wrath lies heavily upon me;
You have overwhelmed me
With all your waves.

You have taken from me my closest friends
And have made me repulsive to them.
I am confined and cannot escape;
My eyes are dim with grief.

I call to you, O LORD, every day;
I spread out my hands to you.

God-worshipers, at some point, need to make their peace with suffering. It’s hard to make sense of a God of love and the horrific suffering some humans experience. It may be something you only process in your mind; more likely a day will come when you’ll have to sort it through with a broken heart. Suffering, loss, and grief take away our breath and threaten to take away our faith.

Christians are in the wrong when they give simple solutions to those who suffer. Jesus didn’t swat away suffering or sufferers like yellow jackets at a picnic. He entered our suffering. The God we know in Jesus submitted to the realities of a planet that we infected with sin. He played by the same rules. You can rage at God for your hardship, but you can’t say he doesn’t know what you’re going through.

It’s probably good that you do rage at God for your hardship, that you continue to lay it out before our LORD. Find words for your heartache, whether you’re praying for yourself or your friend, or our world. Speak your words aloud, perhaps even through tears.

This is sometimes what prayer looks like.

Praying with you this day.

Andrew