Life isn’t always pleasant for us. There will be times when we are confronted with sorrows; sometimes profound sorrows. There will be times when our faith in God is challenged because of the suffering and pain we are experiencing.
There are many people who lose a loved one to death who become very angry with God. Questions arise – why did this have to happen? Does God really love me? Many people become angry with God and yet are afraid that they should not be angry with God. I believe that God is big enough and caring enough to accept our anger and still love us.
Psalm 22, credited to King David, begins with some familiar words. The first verse of Psalm 22 is “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” These are the words that Jesus cried out while he was on the cross.
In that moment of torment and grief, that time of pain and sorrow, Jesus spoke the words of lament found in these ancient words. Clearly, when David wrote the words and when Jesus spoke them, these were moments of extreme anguish. We all may identify with these words when we are faced with the troubles of life and especially when we lose a loved one.
But the psalm does not remain in this attitude of sorrow. David moves beyond his words of suffering and comes to a realization of God’s mercy. According to verse 24, what is God’s attitude toward those who suffer? What has God NOT done? What has God done?
There is a time of affliction for every one of us. We will all experience loss and pain at some time or another. We will all feel sadness, sometimes so much that we will cry out that God has forgotten us.
But we need to remember in our grief that we are not forgotten after all. God does not turn away from our suffering and our sorrows. He does listen to our calls for help and He gives us comfort.
DAILY CHALLENGE: What can remind you that God still loves you?
