They say, “Misery loves company,” but I don’t know about
that.
The idea is we tend to spread our pain to others as if by
division we can diminish our share of anguish.
I’ve been sad enough to be bitter and make my company miserable,
too. It didn’t help. For each companion infected with despair, the inverse
occurred, and my share of misery multiplied. My misery does not love present company.
But PAST company is welcome.
There is surprising comfort in realizing that my particular
distress isn’t particular to me. Someone
else has scars in the same place. Others
have fought the same battle, lost it like me, survived the loss, fought it
again, and survived to share the story.
This is why I love the Bible’s record of failures.
Jacob “wrestling” with insomnia because he’s convinced
himself that his brother is going to massacre his entire family (Genesis
32). David starving himself in seemingly
suicidal desperation because he can’t fix the consequences his stupid choices have
caused for his child (2 Samuel 12). Elijah
in a state of bi-polar depression running away from his greatest success,
isolating himself from loyal company, mentally self-abusing, and wanting to
just die. “It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!” (1 Kings 19: 4).
None of those miserable examples of humanity survived that
moment unscathed, but each of them survived.
They got up --- limping, grieving, chastised and still angry; but they
got up and went on to succeed.
It comforts me to be in the company of such a great cloud of
miserable witnesses.
It should comfort our community to open the Bible and read that
that we are not the first community of
faith to experience this particular combination of anxiety, anger, hope?,
resignation, and cynicism about the possibilities of justice.
The Korahites had been slaves, leaders, rebels, outcasts,
and worship leaders. One of their songs
declares the misery of being citizens of a country defined by sin, led by lies,
governed unjustly, and oppressed with impunity.
Vindicate me, O God,
And plead my cause against an ungodly nation;
Oh, deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man!
For You are the God of my strength;
Why do You cast me off?
Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the
enemy? (Psalm 43: 1-2)
The sons of Korah pleaded for a sign, for a Word from the Lord that would make
all their praise and worship seem relevant in the midst of national misery.
Oh, send out Your light and Your truth!
Let them lead me;
Let them bring me to Your holy hill
And to Your tabernacle.
Then I will go to the altar of God,
To God my exceeding joy;
And on the harp I will praise You,
O God, my God. (Psalm 43: 3-4)
We don’t know what were the specific issues which inspired the 43rd
psalm. What were the alternative facts delivered by the deceitful and unjust
man? Whose lives didn’t matter to the
ungodly nation they nevertheless loved? What
were the systemic tools used for oppression?
We don’t know how or if the complaints in the psalm were justly resolved?
All we know is their misery.
And we know how they survived, got up, and kept going.
Why are you cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God;
For I shall yet praise Him,
The help of my countenance and my God. (Psalm
43: 5)
The Korahites worked on themselves internally.
Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me?
They concluded that they could not survive depending on
circumstances as the source of their mental health. They recalled that they, like the miserable
saints before could endure and progress if they placed their hope in God.
Hope in God
The Sons of Korah decided to reinvest in their praise and
worship. To simply DECIDE that their
praise and worship was relevant.
For I shall yet praise Him
They decided to remember, to believe, to KNOW that God had
brought them through every past battle; and, therefore, He would bring them
through the next battles, including the battles with their own misery.
The help of my countenance and my God.
These all foreshadowed the greatest story of misery and
success.
JESUS had no form or comeliness . . . no beauty
that we should desire Him. . . He
was despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with
grief. He was lonely because we
hid, as it were, our faces from Him.
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. (Isaiah
53: 2, 3)
Jesus triumphed over death, the grave, Hell, sin, and human
betrayal. This is our God in whose
eternal company we have our most precious hope.
This is the company that misery can love.
Over and over, the Bible affirms: You may not feel alright right now, but you will
be alright in the long run.
You will lose sometimes, but you will ultimately win.
God’s people hurt, too.
But God heals His people. Every
time.
May our present anxiety find relief in the great cloud of witnesses
who have suffered and triumphed before us.
AND GO VOTE ON TUESDAY.
- Anderson
T. Graves II, is a writer,
community organizer, consultant and the pastor of Bailey Tabernacle CME
Church
Email: BaileyTabernacleChurch@comcast.net
Friend on Facebook
at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves
Follow on
twitter @AndersonTGraves
Support this blog
with a donation to paypal.me/andersongraves
or CashApp at $atgraves or on the DONATE button
on the right-hand sidebar.
