Advent Reflection: Wednesday, December 21st

The feeling of being apart from God's presence can be found in different areas throughout the Scriptures. One place it is expressed quite poignantly is found in the book of Lamentations.

Here in chapter three we read verses such as,

"I am one who has seen affliction under the rod of God’s wrath; he has driven and brought me into darkness without any light...(1) he has besieged and enveloped me with bitterness and tribulation... (5) though I call and cry for help, he shuts out my prayer...(8) ...he has made me desolate...(11) I have become the laughingstock of all my people... (14) He has filled me with bitterness, he has sated me with wormwood... (15)...my soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is...(17) so I say, “Gone is my glory, and all that I had hoped for from the Lord.” (18) My soul continually thinks of it and is bowed down within me." (20)

As dark as these verses and expressions of pain and sorrow are, it is at the same time a beautiful witness that the writer doesn't turn around and deny the existence of God in the midst of their torment and feelings of desolation.

He is still acutely aware of the presence of God, even when feeling that the Lord is shutting out his prayers and expressing the bitterness within that come with those feelings.

He may not understand why he is feeling this way, but he doesn't push God away, instead choosing to find a way to put these feelings into words as he waits on the Lord's grace and blessing to return.

Even these words of loneliness and this time tribulation can serve as an inspiration for how we can cling close to the Lord despite going through hardships.

God hears you. God loves you. There is hope.