TO CHEW ON: "Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Look around and see. Is any suffering like my suffering that was inflicted on me, that the Lord brought on me in the day of his fierce anger?" Lamentations 1:12
What is the saddest thing that has ever happened to you? How did you handle your sad feelings - by crying, sleeping, staying busy, playing sports, talking to others, writing?
Lamentations is a Bible book that someone (most likely Jeremiah) wrote about a very sad time – the fall of Jerusalem.
It is poetry and full of word pictures. Jerusalem is compared to a widow. She was once married but now she is a slave dressed in clothes that are dirty with the sins she has done. Jerusalem’s former rulers are like deer who are starving and so weak they don’t have the strength to run away from the hunter. The roads leading to Jerusalem weep and its gates are empty.
Though Jeremiah escaped going to Babylon, this poem shows that he felt as sad as anyone. He loved his country. He loved Jerusalem. He hated to see it destroyed and its people taken away. Writing Lamentations probably helped him work through his sad feelings.
Reading Lamentations these many years later can help us too. All of us have sad times in our lives. Lamentations shows us that it’s okay to cry and express our sadness. Lamentations also shows us one way (writing) to work through sad feelings when they come. But most of all, Lamentations helps us see, and feel, the sad end of disobeying God.
PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to obey You and avoid the sadness of disobedience. Amen
MORE: Your Lament
Think of a time you were very sad. What happened? How did you feel?
Now think of some word pictures that help describe your sad time:
- Color: If you were to give your sad time a color, what would it be?
- Music: If you were to make a video of that time, what kind of music would play in the background?
- Animal: Does your sad time remind you of an animal or animal action?
- Weather: Does your sad time remind you of a certain kind of weather?
Using one or all of your word pictures, write a lament of your own.
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Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Adult readers - DAILY DEVOTIONS FOR ADULTS are available too at Other Food: daily devo's.
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