Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.–Psalm 42:5 NASB
Upset, scared, and angry, my friends decided to spend some time on their knees in lament and confession. They wanted to express what was true in their hearts—their pain, confusion, outrage, fear, and desire surrounding the loss of their job. I also sensed a slight numbness of not knowing what else to do. Their world has just imploded on them with no real explanation from their boss or any options to sort it out on the horizon. They chose to pray. They chose to cling to each other and to the Lord.
While praying, it occurred to them to include their kids in the process, so they called everyone together to explain the situation. “We are hurting, so we want to pray and let the Lord know what we feel right now.” As they talked to their kids about declaring truthfully what they were feeling, their oldest said, “Mama, last night Jesus told me to begin that! So, I did.”
“David, that was such a holy moment for us as a family. God was already preparing our kids for this new pain and providing a way through it.”
ACTION: Faced with uncertainty, betrayal, and reason for outrage, where do you find yourself turning for relief? Pondering your own story in the midst of this crisis, where do you find yourself groaning and most deeply and longing for a way through? When downcast and deeply disturbed, are you able to genuinely share your trouble with the Lord? How does this create a way through for you? How might it not create a way through for you?
