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Lamentations 1 Commentary
by Brad Boyles
The mere existence of the book of Lamentations shows us that God takes seriously our need as humans to process and grieve. “In this world, you will have trouble… ” Jesus promised. Trouble comes in many various forms and often at inconvenient times.
In this book, we are reminded by Jeremiah that God can handle our strongest emotions. In fact, we could argue that in our “fix-it” modern-day culture, we rarely take time to mourn and grieve but instead rush directly into prayers that demand what needs to be done. As we look at the sweep of Scripture we see that God does not want us to tolerate or hide pain, but to face it. In order to face it, we must bring it before Him with authenticity. Easier said than done.
Providing hope amongst suffering is not easy or natural. Often our cliche phrases fall short of what is required to truly bring hope. The authenticity of Lamentations is where it really shines. It addresses pain to the fullest while also planting seeds of hope in order to move forward. This would be the case with the context as well since Jeremiah is writing on behalf of his people who have been taken into captivity. They needed to fully process their grief and their loss, but they also needed hope.
Here in Lamentations 1, there is significant grief over the spiritual loss that Judah has suffered. Like a woman stripped naked in public, Judah had been humiliated. The cost was brutal and the burden was heavy. In a sense, a part of Judah had died. The complexity of her situation was that God had not only allowed for this, but He was also the only One to turn to for comfort. If we put this into practical terms we know that there is always a balance between shame and repentance. Just like Adam and Eve, they wanted to hide from God but they also knew He was the only one who could change their current situation.
This is how God uses suffering to draw us near. We question and wrestle, but we also come to realize that if God is in control, He is our only hope. Many Christians have found that their greatest struggle has brought the most significant spiritual growth.
The reality for us today is that no matter what we face, God has allowed it. Whether it’s a situation out of our control that seems completely unfair or a situation that was brought on by our choices, He is over everything. His desire is for us to face it in Him and through Him. There is no other way. That means repentance and restoration run down the same street. We can trust that in Him, all our needs will be met, even in our most severe hardships.
Come to Him in your mess believing that His presence is exactly what you need.