A Grieving Discipleship

The journey of following Jesus is not a pain free path that allows us to avoid pain and suffering. This might be preferable to us, but it is not how the Spirit leads us. As we follow Jesus, we come to realize that we are transformed more by going through the trials and troubles of life as we hold on to Jesus' hand in the midst of our pain and confusion. In those moments we experience a grieving discipleship.

Michael Card released a wonderful CD in 2006 titled "The Hidden Face of God"in which he tackled the difficult topic of suffering in a modern day collection of psalms of lament. The first song on this CD is "Come Lift Up Your Sorrows." The first verse and chorus are as follows:

If you are wounded, if you are alone,
If you are angry, if your heart is cold as stone,
If you have fallen and if you are weak,
Come find the worth of God
That only the suffering seek.

Come lift up your sorrows
And offer your pain;
Come make a sacrifice
Of all your shame;
There in your wilderness
He's waiting for you
To worship Him with your wounds,
For He's wounded too.

The writer of the book of Hebrews makes this astounding statement about Jesus. "Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." (Hebrews 4:14-16)

What a gift to be able to follow Jesus who has walked the paths that we tread, experiencing the pain and suffering, temptations and trials that we face - and yet did not fail. He is the one who meets us in our pain, and continues to do in us what he has already begun as we continue to hold on to his hand in the midst of our pain. In the midst of our grieving discipleship, let us lift up our sorrows to our great High Priest who has walked our road, faced our pain, and intercedes for us so that we might receive mercy and grace in our time of need.