Lamenting a Pandemic

Throughout all of human history, people have loudly lamented when life is hard. There are many laments in the Bible, including the entire book of Lamentations and many of the Psalms. Jesus himself lamented his lot in the Garden of Gethsemane!

Life is hard right now. As I'm writing, more than 1,000,000 people have confirmed cases of COVID-19 around the world; and we all know that this is just the tip of the iceberg. One of the most challenging things about COVID-19 is that it appears without symptoms in a significant number of people.

Almost 300,000 in the United States have confirmed cases. Most of us now have active cases not just in our states, but in the very county in which we live. Some have cases in their own communities...or in their own families.

And we're worried. We worry about our grandchildren with compromised immune systems, our sisters fighting cancer, our parents and grandparents. We worry about being able to purchase needed food, medical supplies, and more. We worry about leaving our own children without a mother or father.

Is it "un-Christian" to worry? I mean, we see it in the Bible: "Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you." (1 Peter 5:7) So is it wrong for us to worry? To lament our sorrows? To be scared and anxious?

Of course not!

In Isaiah 16, Isaiah weeps for Jazer and the vineyards of Sibmah. His tears flow. His joy is gone. We, like Isaiah, can be filled with anguish for those places and people who are in the midst of Corona-chaos.

 Like Job, sometimes we wish we had never been born. Like Jeremiah, we wonder why the world is so very painful. And like in Lamentations, we weep; tears flow down our cheeks. And we lament that no one is here to comfort us.

Our coronavirus quarantine is lonely. The news brings tears to our eyes. And God understands every bit of this. He knows our pain. Even Jesus wept.

And after weeping, we carry on. We bring our lamentations to God, and then ask Him for help to pick up our burdens and carry on. He listens. He hears. He comforts us as we mourn our normal, our world, the pain, and the death.

Our pain and tears are not symbols or symptoms of a loss of faith! They are our prayers for a better world, a better tomorrow. They are our cries for God's presence in the midst of our sorrow!

Because God is faithful, He will answer our pleas! 2 Chronicles 20:9b says, "We can cry out to you to save us, and you will hear us and rescue us." Go ahead and cry out to your Father; He will hear and respond. Reach out to Jesus, our Lord and Savior! He will bring you comfort.

Go ahead and lament; you are in good company!