Yesterday you were invited to come out of hiding, out of the pit. Today we are going to see what happens when we do.

Read: Judges 6:11-18

The angel of the Lord came to Gideon and greeted him with these words as a call to join him on solid ground:

Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!

Judges 6:12

Gideon’s response? He questions God’s goodness and presence with them. For his entire life he has heard the miracle stories from his ancestors, how they were delivered from Egypt and their oppressors. The deliverance they talked about sure isn’t a part of his experience and he naturally wonders where God has been all this time. It feels like God has abandoned him, so why should he believe that he is here to rescue him now?

I would not be surprised if you feel the same way. When we are hurt, we naturally wonder why God wasn’t there to protect us. We question our value to God, we wonder why he would let bad things happen.

Second Principle:  God  wants to hear our lament.

A lament is simply expressing sorrow, grief or regret. It is raw, unfiltered, and from the depths of who we are and what we experience.

In a powerful way, Gideon laments what he perceived to be God’s absence and disinterest in his situation. When we lament in the presence of God, we experience God in a powerful way. It is only by laying it all on the table that we can make sense of all we have experienced. *I will add, this is best done in the presence of someone who can listen and even better if they are trained to walk through the valley of grief with you.*

In my own experience, it has been through lament that God has shown me he has been there all along. My eyes were opened to new ways of thinking and I have seen God in ways that before I had missed. He has truly never left me alone or desolate. And I believe the same can be true for you.

For a really beautiful example of lament, read Lamentations 3:1-33.

If you would like more information about finding someone to share a lament with, contact me through the Contact tab or PM me if you read on Facebook.

Prayers for a beautiful Thursday!