A Lament of Praise: Highest Form of Worship

In times of desperation,
the highest form of worship
is a Lament of Praise.
David was our best example of this.

“
You can’t wait
until life isn’t hard anymore
before you decide to be happy.
”
Jane Marczewski aka Nightbirde

And she knows about hard.

Writer Anne Voskamp featured Jane on her blog this week,

and even though I had never heard of Jane before,

her story drew me in and I found myself saying, “I wonder if her book is out.”

Because this is one I want to read cover to cover

even if I use up a whole box of tissues

in the process.

Which I will, because I can’t even write this without tears streaming down my face.

That is the impact Jane makes on a person when you first hear her story.

Wow. Just wow.

Thirty years old. Cancer 3 times. Not expected to survive. Her husband doesn’t want to be married anymore.

And she’s singing, “It’s okay.”

A Lament of Praise.

“But when my brain caught up with it all, something broke. I later found out that all the tragedy at once had caused a physical head trauma, and my brain was sending false signals of excruciating pain and panic.”

She spent 3 months, she says, in the bathroom. Sometimes curled up in the tub, sometimes retching over the stool, sometimes sleeping on her robe on the floor.

“I know it sounds crazy, and I can’t really explain it, but God is in there—even now.

I have heard it said that some people can’t see God because they won’t look low enough, and it’s true. Look lower.

God is on the bathroom floor.”

If a girl can grow up in an ordinary American family,

in Zanesville, Ohio,

with a sister and 3 brothers,

and become a warrior of the first degree,

than you

and I

can be stronger, bigger, deeper, and be okay.

We all have our traumatic God moments.

One of mine was on my bedroom floor.

You might never want to say where your worst moments happened.

But never forget,

God is there

in the lowest places.

If you’re not feeling Him,

look lower.

Daniel knew about hard.

And low places.

You can’t get much lower or harder than that ancient lion’s den.

Daniel surely expected to die among the lions.

He knew this when he opened his window and prayed in spite of the king’s decree.

He expected hard.

But he was okay.

He didn’t wait for everything to be okay before he decided to be happy.

He did the best he could. Asked for pulse to eat. Drank only water instead of wine. And prayed morning, noon, and night. Then prepared for the worst. Did he pray for a miracle? It doesn’t say he did, but God gave him one.

He survived the lowest place unscathed.

Today, that survival might not be a miracle.

But it might mean

the courage to say

I’m okay.

David Sings a Lament of Praise

“

My God, my God,
why hast thou forsaken me?
why art thou so far from helping me,
and from the words of my roaring?
O my God, I cry in the day time,
but thou hearest not;
But thou art holy,
Be not far from me; for trouble is near;
for there is none to help. Ye that fear the Lord, praise him; glorify him;
For he hath not hid his face from him;
but when he cried unto him, he heard.
My praise shall be of thee: