Go to Him
Lamentations 1:12-22
“It’s okay to ask for help.”
Have you ever heard that before? How did it make you feel? Comforted? Relieved? Seen? Or did it make you feel belittled? Was it an empty cliche?
According to the American Psychological Association, 84 percent of psychologists who treat anxiety have seen an increase in people seeking out treatment for anxiety. In 2020, 60 percent of psychologists saw a rise in demand for treatment, growing to 74 percent in 2021.
In general, Americans have gotten better at asking for help. We’ve started seeking treatment for the emotional and mental distress that went ignored in our culture for a long time. While we should lament that people are struggling mentally, it seems that more and more people are looking for help. This is a good thing.
But maybe you’ve found yourself in times of grief and sadness and felt you had no one around you to help. Perhaps you’re overwhelmed and don’t know how to talk about it to your community. Maybe you feel like a burden, and no one cares. Maybe your shame is eating away at you. While therapists and psychologists are amazing at treating disorders and helping us process our emotions from an unbiased perspective, they alone can’t heal us. While friends and community can comfort and encourage us, they can’t save us from our distress. It’s possible to have asked for help and even receive it and still feel alone.
The author of this lament feels betrayed and alone. The people he trusted either betrayed him or perished. Look what he says in verse 19:
“I called to my allies
but they betrayed me.
My priests and elders
perished in the city
while they searched for food
to keep themselves alive.
And later, in 21, he says, “People have heard my groaning, but there is no one to comfort me.”
I’m sure you’ve been there too. Sometimes we experience genuine abandonment, but sometimes we fail to realize that humans can’t be our ultimate comfort. Sometimes we choose to believe that “no one cares about me” because we’ve put so much pressure on others to be our healers and comforters.
The author is at the end of their rope. But he ends this prayer with a sentiment essential for enduring his situation, and it can help us weather our own storms, too.
“Let all their wickedness come before you;
deal with them
as you have dealt with me
because of all my sins.
My groans are many
and my heart is faint.”
He gives justice to God (deal with them). He remembers that God forgives (as you have dealt with me). And he honestly brings his emotions to God (my groans are heavy, and my heart is faint).
As we read Lamentations together, this sentiment might grow tired. It might feel cliche. But when we embody and embrace it, it has so much power:
Go to God.
Go to him when you have no one else. He cares for you and wants to be with you in your distress. This is the God who came to earth to dwell with humanity and gives you his spirit to live within you.
God wants to be with you. And he is. Go to him.
It won’t quickly fix your trial but will grow your dependence on him. It’s good to ask for help - from friends, the community, and a professional. But if we don’t simultaneously recognize that God is a God who meets us in our distress, we risk adding bitterness and resentment towards God to our grief or hurt.
As we embark on this series, remember that God wants, more than anything, to be with you. Go to Him.
