When a Violin Won't Cut It
Have you ever been complaining about something and someone started playing an imaginary violin for you? It's the classic "sympathy violin" move that is a not-so-subtle way of telling you that maybe you're being a bit overdramatic. Well, if Jeremiah had background music while writing the book of Lamentations, he would have needed an entire symphony to play for him.
Written after the fall of Jerusalem, Lamentations is, unsurprisingly, a very depressing book. Here is a sampling of verses to give you the idea:
"Those killed by the sword are better off than those who die of hunger. Starving, they waste away for lack of food from the fields." Lam 4:9
"Tenderhearted women have cooked their own children. They have eaten them to survive the siege." Lam 4:10
"For all these things I weep; tears flow down my cheeks. No one is here to comfort me; any who might encourage me are far away." Lam 1:16
It's easy to wonder why on earth such a book would even be included in the Bible. After all, famine and cannibalism don't really do well to describe the glory of the Lord. However, there is one verse that I believe describes the entire book of Lamentations, and it has been an encouragement and challenge in my life for awhile now. Lamentations 2:19 reads, "Rise during the night and cry out. Pour out your hearts like water to the Lord. Lift up your hands to him in prayer..."
In modern Christianity, we tend to filter what we say to God. We think we can only show Him the parts of our heart that include praise and love for Him, but hide the doubt and bitterness. We ask Him for things that we believe we deserve or that He will give us, but not for the things that seem impossible. We have forgotten how to pour out our hearts like water.
God doesn't just want our praise and love; He wants our anger, our frustrations, our questions, our hatred, our confusion, and our pride. If we keep these from Him, then we are not offering ourselves entirely. Rather than hide things from God, we can have a totally open relationship with Him. That doesn't necessarily mean He will change everything we complain about, but it does mean that we will always have someone to talk to.
Yet I believe pouring out our hearts is a step more than simply telling God how we truly feel about things. The specific wording "pour out" in this verse has interested me. More than a revealing or spilling over, the phrase "pour out" is also used many times in the Bible to indicate a sacrifice. One especially powerful and familiar example is in Matthew 26:8, when Jesus takes the wine at the last supper and announces, "This is My blood of the covenant, poured out for many for forgiveness of sins." When we pour out our hearts to God, we should do more than simply show Him the feelings tat lie there, we should bring them as an offering, giving them over to Him entirely.
When something bothers us, we never need to go through it alone. We can rant, scream, and cry out about it to God. But our feelings are not ours to hold on to; we must offer them up as a sacrifice to God. If we don't like the way things are going, we cannot remain bitter. We must pour out our hearts. If we feel cheated or forgotten, we cannot hold onto our feelings of betrayal and pain. We must pour out our hearts. And when we finally see the plans of the Lord coming together and realize the love He has for us, and we cannot keep the joy from spilling over... it is then we will realize:
We must pour out our hearts.
Written after the fall of Jerusalem, Lamentations is, unsurprisingly, a very depressing book. Here is a sampling of verses to give you the idea:
"Those killed by the sword are better off than those who die of hunger. Starving, they waste away for lack of food from the fields." Lam 4:9
"Tenderhearted women have cooked their own children. They have eaten them to survive the siege." Lam 4:10
"For all these things I weep; tears flow down my cheeks. No one is here to comfort me; any who might encourage me are far away." Lam 1:16
It's easy to wonder why on earth such a book would even be included in the Bible. After all, famine and cannibalism don't really do well to describe the glory of the Lord. However, there is one verse that I believe describes the entire book of Lamentations, and it has been an encouragement and challenge in my life for awhile now. Lamentations 2:19 reads, "Rise during the night and cry out. Pour out your hearts like water to the Lord. Lift up your hands to him in prayer..."
In modern Christianity, we tend to filter what we say to God. We think we can only show Him the parts of our heart that include praise and love for Him, but hide the doubt and bitterness. We ask Him for things that we believe we deserve or that He will give us, but not for the things that seem impossible. We have forgotten how to pour out our hearts like water.
God doesn't just want our praise and love; He wants our anger, our frustrations, our questions, our hatred, our confusion, and our pride. If we keep these from Him, then we are not offering ourselves entirely. Rather than hide things from God, we can have a totally open relationship with Him. That doesn't necessarily mean He will change everything we complain about, but it does mean that we will always have someone to talk to.
Yet I believe pouring out our hearts is a step more than simply telling God how we truly feel about things. The specific wording "pour out" in this verse has interested me. More than a revealing or spilling over, the phrase "pour out" is also used many times in the Bible to indicate a sacrifice. One especially powerful and familiar example is in Matthew 26:8, when Jesus takes the wine at the last supper and announces, "This is My blood of the covenant, poured out for many for forgiveness of sins." When we pour out our hearts to God, we should do more than simply show Him the feelings tat lie there, we should bring them as an offering, giving them over to Him entirely.
When something bothers us, we never need to go through it alone. We can rant, scream, and cry out about it to God. But our feelings are not ours to hold on to; we must offer them up as a sacrifice to God. If we don't like the way things are going, we cannot remain bitter. We must pour out our hearts. If we feel cheated or forgotten, we cannot hold onto our feelings of betrayal and pain. We must pour out our hearts. And when we finally see the plans of the Lord coming together and realize the love He has for us, and we cannot keep the joy from spilling over... it is then we will realize:
We must pour out our hearts.
Comments
Post a Comment