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Lamenting

             My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish? (Psalm 22:1)

David wrote a number of lament psalms, but this is the one from which Jesus quoted as He died on the cross. Sometimes, when I go to God with my laments, I feel a little ashamed. Jesus was facing death before He prayed in Gethsemane. He was dying before He quote this psalm. Let me be inconvenienced, and I whine to God.

The first issue that needs to be addressed is the fact that while we know Jesus was in the habit of praying, we don’t know the content of many of those prayers. I suspect, based on what He said sometimes, that He may have prayed a few “Shatter their teeth!” prayers but maybe not.  

I’m not going to suggest that we suck it up and not complain until the night before we face our crosses, or until we’re on our crosses. Instead, I’m going to remind myself and you that there was a plan behind what led to Jesus quoting Psalm 22:1 that brought about the greatest good that has ever been done. There could also be a plan  behind what we face when we’re tempted to quote Psalm 22:1 that will bring about the greatest good in our lives or someone else’s.

It’s hard to keep in mind that our suffering may not be a personal attack or a judgment on God’s part. The book of Job was written to make sure that was explained. I’ve said before,  sometimes what we face is for the benefit of others. Sometimes, we need to get a little perspective. This is not as bad or hard as that. It’s not that this isn’t painful or hard. It’s not that we don’t deserve sympathy, compassion, kindness, etc., but we need to remember that it isn’t as bad as it could be. We can suffer without becoming Chicken Little.

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