11-28-2024

Good Morning All,

     Psalm 6:8b-9; “for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping.  The Lord has heard my plea; the Lord accepts my prayer.”

    Most of us have been there.  We have heard the sound of someone weeping.  Perhaps you are a parent of a young child and heard them weeping in their room as they were afraid of the dark or they didn’t feel well.  Maybe your children are a little older and you have had to deal with the tears of disappointment; the first broken crush, the team not made, the grade not earned, the date not received.  Perhaps you heard your spouse weep at the loss of a parent or the loss of a job or the pain of an argument you just had.  Perhaps you heard your parents weep as they are being told that they really can’t live alone anymore.  Perhaps you were the one doing the weeping.

    So, as you heard the weeping, what did you do?  Did you keep on walking by pretending to have not heard it?  Did you knock and ask if they were alright?  If they answered yes, then what?  Did you go to them and comfort them and console them?  What did you do?   I would venture a guess that as you felt you had an answer; you went right in but if you didn’t know what to say; did you walk on by? 

     This is one of the biggest mistakes we as Christians make; we think we have to be able to offer “the answer” to every problem; when we can’t we often try to avoid the issue.  Remember that you never have to, nor can you, defend God and his actions.  God doesn’t reveal everything to us and there are more questions than answers.  Why did that baby die?  Why do people have to live with pain?  Why are loving people unable to have children and the worst parents around seem to have them at will?  These are a few; I am sure each of us could add dozens.  When you hear someone weeping and these are the questions, what do we say?

     The thing we have to remember is that “WHY?” belongs to God.  Why did that baby die?  I don’t know why; only God knows why.  Why do bad things happen?  I don’t know why, only God knows.  God doesn’t reveal “WHY?” to us all the time; we must rely on what we do know and that is the gracious salvation we receive because of Jesus.  We only know what has been revealed to us and that is what we know.  We can’t answer questions like “WHY?” but we can pray and offer a shoulder to cry on, an ear to listen and a hand to hold.

     Sometimes, we feel that prayer is all we have to offer.  That is not a bad thing.  Sometimes that is all there ever is.  We pray for comfort and consolation.  We pray for the Lord to send us the promised “Comforter” and to give us peace.  The great thing is that God hears our prayers our cries and He answers them.   He sends his Spirit, in the form of family and friends, to hold us close, to give us a shoulder to lean on, a hand to hold, the willingness to wipe away the tears.

     God hears our cries; he hears our pain; he desires to give you comfort and peace.  We don’t have to hole up in our room, weeping all alone, bearing the weight of that pain.  Give it to God, trust in his promises of grace.

    Dear Father in heaven, we cry, we lament, and we carry the burden of sin with us.  Remove our pain, our fear, and our loneliness.  Give us strength to call upon your holy name and seek from you peace and comfort.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret