Scripture Relfections

Last month, Steven+ showed us from the story of the Israelites how God sometimes brings us through difficulties, and even lets us remain in need or with unmet desires, as a test. Will we cry out to him? I was convicted as the Lord showed me how often I spent my time complaining or worrying when I ought to be crying out to him. He’s not offended that I find parts of my current situation difficult and hard to bear, or that I wonder how long it will be before he provides for me; rather, he desires that I bring my difficulties and my questions to him. We see this clearly in the Psalms, in the words the Lord gave to the psalmists—and through them, to us—to pray, to use when we come to him. The beginning of Psalm 13, “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?” is one example, but searching for the phrase “How long, O Lord?” brought up a long list of similar cries throughout the Psalms, spoken by many of the prophets, and even echoed again in Revelation 6:9-10: 
 
When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 
 
These redeemed souls are crying out to God for their as yet unmet need for justice! My unmet needs are rather little in comparison, but clearly there is no sin in bringing them (and my desire to see them met, my suffering in the continuing neediness) to my Father. No, the sin, as Steven+ showed us from the sins of Israel in the desert, is in not crying out, not turning to him as our Provider, our good Father. For in crying out to God, we are trusting him. 
 
Jesus’ haunting words on the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” are words of incredible trust. Our Savior, the only One who has ever experienced the true, full silence of God, cried out to his Father when even breathing was torturous pain. What must it have cost him to cry out at that moment? To acknowledge before the watching crowds that his Father is not coming to save him from death? He cries out to the only One who saves, and as he dies he commits his Spirit to his Father’s hands, still trusting. And our Father, in raising his Son from the dead, has proven himself truly, fully trustworthy for all time! 
 
We are beloved of our Father, and in the Risen, Beloved One we have life, and life abundantly. As we open our hearts to our Father, as we cry out to him for even what we are ashamed to need, ashamed to find difficult, may he give us his joy and peace in believing. 
 
Hannah