Lament

We all have seasons that are hard. It is only with God that we can take hard things to the Lord in lament instead of being overcome by despair, complaining or hatred. Lament does not fix the problem, but it puts us in God’s comforting hands.

In the spirit of poetry, I like the image of God’s tears filling the oceans of
earth. God too laments the hard, the hatred, and the sin in our world. He is with us in this. Psalm 24:1 tells us The earth is the lord’s and everything in it. His tears could fill an ocean. Everything in the earth is the Lord’s and that includes our lament. He is beyond big enough to handle glory and lament. As I stand on the shore of the ocean, or a bit closer to home - the shores of Lake Michigan, and see water all the way to the horizon, I think of Habakkuk
2:14: For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the
Lord as the waters cover the sea. For me, part of this filling, part of the glory, is God weeping with me, with us in lament.

This painting is part of a traveling exhibit called In God's Hands organized by the Great Commission Artists.   I was honored to win an award for Creativity/Originality.