Trusting God in the Midst of Suffering: As a Man Thinks

 

Then you turned my lament into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and covered me with joy. So now my heart will sing to you and not be silent; O LORD my God, I will always give thanks to you.  Psalm 30:11-12

 Earlier in this study, I wrote about the four steps of lament: turning to God, complaining, asking for what you need, and trusting God for its outcome. This week it looks like we are focusing on the fourth step, trusting God.

 When we express our trust in God that He will take care of us, provide for our needs, and deal with whatever situation we are facing, in that very moment our prayer is answered. Once we’ve come to a place where we can say, “So now my heart will sing to you and not be silent; O LORD my God, I will always give thanks to you” (Psalm 30:12), our hope is secured and our heart can be at peace. We don’t have to wait to see the fruition of our hopes because they are certain and we can live in them today! When we enter into this frame of mind, we can begin Praising Like God’s Already Done It, and that changes things. It changes our outlook, it changes our heart, it can truly change our reality! To this day, 25 years later, I can see my first pastor shaking his imaginary pom poms at the front of the church chanting, “Act enthusiastic and you’ll be enthusiastic!” It seemed pretty goofy at the time, but there’s a lot of truth to it. Proverbs 23:7a tells us, “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.”

 You may have heard of the concept of manifesting. Now, I’m not supporting some woo-woo idea that we can magically speak things into existence, bringing ourselves wealth, notoriety and love, but I’ve definitely experienced the results of self-fulfilling prophecy. If you say, “I’ll never be able to accomplish that task,” you probably just proved yourself right. As Henry Ford so famously said, "Whether you think you can or you can't, you're right." You set about it with an expectation of failure that influenced your choices, your motivation, and ultimately your future. Maybe, because you didn’t believe you would finish it, you didn’t set aside the time necessary for it. In any case, the words weren’t magic, they just reflected the belief of your heart which went on to influence the outcome of the scenario. I perused an article about manifesting in Psychology Today this morning that added on to this idea, saying that, “research suggests that if we truly believe we can achieve something, we are willing to do the hard work to achieve it. This is in contrast to law-of-attraction style manifestation which suggests that belief alone is enough to bring about manifestation. Ultimately, the science suggests that our beliefs bring about behaviors (and responses from others) that lead to the outcomes we desire.”* So, I need you to know right now that I’m not endorsing the idea that we can speak our desires into existence, but I do believe that if we live our life grounded in the truth that God has our back, will provide for us, and will answer our prayers, we will live in the peace that mindset brings. The opposite is also true. If we don’t believe in any of those things, we are more likely to sabotage the good God has for us and set ourselves up for failure.

Here’s the Thing: Praising God may just be the most important step in lament. Yes, it is critical that we be honest with ourselves and God, sharing with Him our deepest hurts, fears and needs, and asking Him for the healing and protection we desire. But those things by themselves can just be seen as complaining. When paired with acknowledging who God is, how much He loves us, and an awareness of His ability to take care of us, our complaining becomes lament, and can lead to hope, healing and beauty.

* Davis, T., PhD. (2023, December 3). Here’s what the research says about manifestation. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/click-here-for-happiness/202009/what-is-manifestation-science-based-ways-to-manifest