Tagged: sorrow

O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear to do justice to the fatherless and oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.  Psalm 10:17-18 Lament: a passionate expression of grief or sorrow; a song, piece of music, or poem expressing sorrow. Lament is an expression found in many cultures across the world. What makes biblical lament different from all others, however, is that its goal is not merely complaint and grief, but a reinstatement of faith in God. A complaint, a sorrow, a rending, that ends in trust. The One who created our emotions, minds, and souls knows that for us to truly trust, we must empty… Read More

You who are my comforter in sorrow, my heart is faint within me. Jeremiah 8:18 I sit by the water, watching a leaf trickle through the air on its journey to the rippling surface. The sky is blue and the clouds’ edges are so sharp they look frazzled and irritated. The perfection of their silhouette against brilliant azure seems to frustrate them. They want to frizz out a bit and break the blissful facade. Kind of like my naturally curly hair I work so hard to straighten. The wind kicks her heels, threatening to upend my coffee cup as if she agrees to help. Two people sit nearby and make me mad. I want to be alone. I don’t want to hear another human voice. I… Read More

@audreycfrank There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God. (1 Samuel 2:2) Gratitude reveals much about who a person is and who or what she relies upon. Our identities are established upon so many things: who our parents were, where we grew up, what job we have, what relationships we have. Thanksgiving, or lack of, often flows directly out of these foundational aspects of our identity. Hannah’s story in 1 Samuel 1 and 2 reads like a case study on the matter. In Hannah’s world, the identity of a woman was largely based on whether or not she was a mother. Bearing a child, preferably a son, was paramount to womanhood and fulfillment.… Read More

@audreycfrank Joy and sorrow are inexplicably connected, and stubbornly present in the human experience. I once saw a sight most strange, two very different streams flowing side by side. In the deep woods of the mountains where we summered in my childhood, the two streams swirled, separated only by a narrow, rocky ledge embedded in dark rich earth. One raged wide, its waters noisily churning up the dark and decaying debris of seasons past. The other ran slow and narrow, quiet and clear. In its depths sparkled gold and silver stars, reflecting the bright light of the sun. Dark and brooding, flowing beside calm and glittering, these waters fascinated me. While cousins and uncles fished, I wandered the banks of this magical anomaly. As I… Read More