Raging Against God?

The sermon in church yesterday was one I wish we heard more often, in that it tackled a more difficult passage in Scripture. Too many sermons address passages that the preacher likes, or make people feel good. But yesterday, I heard a message based on Jeremiah 20, where the prophet seems to lash out against God, feeling deceived and manipulated into serving as God's prophet, carrying a most unpopular message to the hard-hearted people of Israel. The preacher's message could be summed up by saying that the lament is form of prayer that we need to use more often. On top of that, he said that we can rage against God - we can scream at Him, hammer at Him - and He can handle it. The sin, this fellow offered, comes when, in our anger, we turn away from God.

Today's electronic devotional reading from Scripture Union UK was on Ruth 1. They pointed out the frustration and anger that Naomi put on God for the loss of her husband and her two sons. And yet God blessed her; in spite of her negative feelings toward Him.

I am reminded once again that my prayers to God can share my anger and my disappointments; that my prayers do not have to be sterile and full of fake praise from a heart that is turned off. God would rather have me rage against Him than speak words that are false. And yet, it is through prayerful honesty with God that we can somehow still praise Him, and see Him for who He is, even as we still struggle with faith and trust. It seems paradoxical, but it is merely the dialectical tension of true, living faith. And so, this is my prayer to the Lord, whom I love, whom I am struggling with as I go through a number of personal disappointments and hurts ...

O Lord God, hear my prayers. I feel alone, cut off from my people and my land.
My heart burns for all the things that have happened to my family and to myself.
And yet I continue to trust You. I continue to pray to You.
But what has that gotten me? What has changed?

Have the broken been restored? Have their hurts been healed?
Do You hear the cries of Your daughters and sons?
What is Your purpose? Where is Your glory?
What would You have us do? How much more are we in need of trusting You?

And yet I will trust You, O Lord. For whom else do I have to trust?
To whom else can I turn? For I know that You ways are not my ways.
Your hand moves in ways that I cannot fathom until it has brought about Your will.
Even in the midst of danger, You are our shield. Even in the moment of our despair, You are our hope.

I will cry out, I will weep, but I will also call on You.
I will continue to sing Your praises. For there is no other hope in this world.
There is no other god, but You, O Lord, my God.
May I bring You glory; even as I weep and question, even as I struggle to have faith.
May my tears and sobs, may my questions and doubts, all serve Your purposes in growing me to be a man after Your own heart.

To You be all glory, laud, and honor, to You, O Christ, my Redeemer King! Amen.