Lamentations 3:19-26

To be spiritually mature in Christ, we need to grieve major losses like death and divorce. We need to grieve smaller losses like job changes and children leaving the home. And we need to grieve with God over all the suffering in the world around us — for the children kidnapped by Hamas or killed by a mass shooter in Maine or starving in Haiti.

On one extreme is the temptation to ignore the pain by keeping ourselves busy. The other extreme is to feel the pain but then get stuck in despair.

But there is a kind of grieving that God calls his people to, a kind that is both honest and hopeful, allowing ourselves to both feel the pain while also rejoicing in God’s goodness.