“Discipleship in the Dark”

If a family member wounds us with their words, it’s normal to air our hurt to a therapist. If we have an especially awful experience at a restaurant, it’s normal to lodge a complaint with the manager. If a co-worker’s aggressive interactions make you feel unsafe, it’s normal to take your problem to HR.

We’ve normalized expressing our sorrow and anger when others have mistreated us.

But what about the times when we feel mistreated by God? What about the times we watch him answer everyone else’s prayers, except ours? What about the seasons of depression, loneliness, infertility and the like where God seems nowhere to be found?

Thankfully, the book of Psalms has normalized expressing our sorrow, complaints, and anger to God, even when God is the source of our sorrow and the object of our anger.

This week, we look at the most gut-wrenching Psalm in the Psalter to learn how disciples of Jesus process their most visceral pain and disappointments with God.