Cry Out To God…

I love the book of Psalms. It is literally the prayer journal of David. It takes us through his hardships, trials, sins, triumphs and grief. David does not quietly cry out to God in his pain and grief, he instead questions and wonders why.

 You can see throughout the Psalms of David, his relationship with God. He goes from praising God at the beginning of a chapter, “In you, O Lord, I take refuge” (Psalm 31: 1a) to grieving, “For my life is spent with sorrow, and my years with sighing; my strength fails because of my inquiry, and my bones waste away” (Psalm 31:10) in the exact same chapter. David was not afraid to share his sorrows, his pain and his questions. He was raw, he was real and he gave us a glimpse of his relationship with God.

I think the reason that I love Psalms and David’s words is this rawness and realness. So many times when we are faced with grief or pain, we try to either hide our pain from everyone (including our amazing God) or we feel like we need to have everything figured out before approaching God or sharing with others. I don’t believe this is how God intends our relationship with Him (or others) to be like. I believe that He wants us to cry out to Him, to share our sorrow, to share our pain and to ask Him questions.

David is described as a man after God’s own heart. If he was considered a man after God’s own heart and he cried out, questioned and wondered why, aren’t we able to do the same? Most of us that live in the US, are afraid of death and the grief that ensues. We like happy things. We like good days and are often overwhelmed and run away from sadness and grief. I personally do not believe that is what we are supposed to do. I believe God has asked us to cry out to Him, to question Him and also to walk with each other in our grief and sadness. He is giving us the ultimate example of what type of relationship we should have with those that grieve. We should not turn away from them, make them feel bad for their grief or shun them. We should support those that are hurting. We should love them through their questions and grief. God gave us that example. 

If you are one of those facing grief today and don’t know what to do, first of all, you can cry out to our amazing God. He wants to hear from you. He wants to have a relationship with you and He loves you fiercely. You can also turn to those in your life. I pray that you have a widows ministry at your church or in your community, but if you do not, we would love to connect you with a program near you or talk with you in your journey, you can reach us at widows@sitgm.org. You may feel afraid to share your sorrow and pain, but God did not intend for us to bear our sorrow, pain and grief alone. He wants you to cry out to Him and He wants you to have a community who loves you. You are seen and you are not alone!