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“Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.” - Romans 12:15
    I think many of us found ourselves existing in two opposing mindsets this week: celebrating the 4th of July with our country and in mourning and prayer for our brothers and sisters at River Point Community Church.
   On July 29th there was a car crash involving an SUV and a church van. The wreck injured multiple members of a youth group, leaving several in critical condition. This accident received the attention and prayers of the entire community. When darkness, tragedy, and loss enter our life it can cause us to lose our sense of direction. Even as we walk with God through pain and suffering the disorientation does not go away overnight. We may start to pray, but then stumble with our words. What can even be said?
   When the world has lost all sense of order and life becomes chaotic, the Psalmists in our Bible lament. Laments are prayers that give voice to the grief, pain, and heartache that one is feeling. It is estimated that two thirds of the Psalms found in your Bible are psalms of lament. What this means is - God’s people do not deny their emotions or the darkness felt, rather they voice their feelings and pour them out to God. Some lament psalms embody lostness, uncertainty, even anger! Crying out in frustration, Psalm 88 ends with the line “darkness is my closest friend.” In other words, suffering in silence is not a Christian virtue. God fully receives sloppy prayers, complaining prayers, harsh and angry prayers, and none of them are looked down on in the Bible. The Psalmist cries out, “Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord.”  Darkness, pain, and suffering can happen to a believer who does not deserve it, and it can happen at any time. The presence of such sorrow does not mean you are not a good person, lost, or have strayed from God. The Bible shows us that you can do everything right, and pain and suffering still comes. Look at Jesus, who followed God’s law, prayed regularly, and by all standards was a good person and even he experienced pain, suffering, and trauma in this life. His cousin, John the Baptist, spent his life turning people back toward God and was beheaded. Do we imagine our worldly suffering will be any less because we loved goodness, truth, and God?
   As long as this world exists, suffering, pain, and darkness are forces that all of us will deal with. The key statement there is “as long as this world exists.” Christians believe that more than this world exists. A world is coming where pain, darkness, chaos, and loss are done away with. Broken bodies are redeemed and restored. Through Jesus many of us have seen a new world, not just in our imagination but through our spirit. We cling to the hope that no matter how brutal this world is, it is nothing that the resurrection cannot fix. So, mourn with those who are mourning, but be ready for a time of rejoicing.