Reflection on Suffering
I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and he will hear me.
I sought the Lord in my day of trouble.
My hands were continually lifted up all night long;
I refused to be comforted. I think of God; I groan;
I meditate; my spirit becomes weak.
Psalm 77: 1-3 CSB
In youth group this week I began an Apologetics series on suffering. We studied Psalm 77. It’s amazing and beautiful to me that in the Bible we have Psalms of lament where the Psalmists cry out to God from the depths of their heart. God is not afraid of our suffering nor does God expect us to be happy all the time.
I reminded the youth that in the dark times when our hearts are crying out, we serve a God who welcomes our lament. Indeed, we serve a God who cried out and lamented because of the cross. We talked about how greatly Jesus suffered on the cross. The cross is already the greatest demonstration of God’s love for us, but it also means that we worship a God who knows what it’s like to suffer. I take great comfort in this. It doesn’t make suffering or tough situations go away, but there’s a fellowship in knowing what it’s like to suffer.
Lastly we talked about what we can do in the midst of suffering. When life is hard and we suffer, there is power in praise. We see this in the second half of Psalm 77. When we praise God for what’s good around us, especially in the hard moments, it gives us perspective and reminds us who God is in the midst of our circumstances. There is no praise too big or small. When my husband was undergoing major surgery, I praised God for a nice gas station called QuikTrip within walking distance where I could go for a soda pick-me-up for a break. Any praise, no matter how small or big or seemingly spiritually or not, is good. I hope that you, too, will take Psalm 77 and remember that we can bring the crying of our heart to God, and also remember to seek out the things (great or small) that we can praise God for in the midst of our circumstances.