Good morning…
“Pitiful post.” I was woken from sleep yesterday morning, almost hearing audibly, “Pitiful post.”
I scurried out of bed and grabbed my phone. Had someone judged negatively Friday’s message, We Honor Cole’s Life?
No. No judgement. I felt relieved. All of the responses received from yesterday’s post were loving and affirming, from people grieving alongside me after this sad, senseless loss. So, God, why the phrase “Pitiful post?”
I google the word “pitiful” and untangle her meaning. Evoking misery. Heart-wrenching lament. Exciting pity, with compassion or with contempt. It is excruciating to have another deeply loved, young person leave this earth abruptly, too soon, without warning. So, yes, together we touch misery, our heart wrenches, and we feel a strange, tangled ball of contempt and compassion. We experience a whole range of emotions, ugly mixed with beautiful and everything in between.
So, humble yourselves under God’s strong hand, and in his own good time he will lift you up. You can throw the whole weight of your anxieties upon him, for you are his personal concern (1 Peter 5:7, PHILLIPS).
This Scripture teaches three key things to do after such a “pitiful post.”
- We humbly admit we are not God, and we will never understand God’s higher ways.
- We trust that, in God’s good time and God’s gracious way, we will be lifted up by the strong hand of our living LORD.
- We throw the whole weight of our anxiety upon God, not just a puny portion, and we rest in the truth, “God loves me personally.”
Let God’s higher ways take form. Trust the LORD to lift us up over time. Throw all anxiety upon God, resting, freed, in God’s healing love.
…Sue…
