If a smile’s worth a thousand words,
Are there a million phrases left unsaid?
Pain disguised in a crooked face
Wrenching the corners of its mouths in place
For what?
A frown turned upside down is still a frown
By any other name
The anguish remains the same
My heart is the box
The smile is the lock
That blocks you from seeing
That I’m really seething
Or teetering, on the edge of complete insanity
But I’m a rock right?
And I can do all things
But if I’m a rock I’m sinking…
In an ocean of despair,
But keep them unaware.
That’s the Christian spirit
We don’t want to hear it
Just smile,
Jesus loves you
He’s always thinking of you
The sky is always blue
Unless you’re in a storm
And you’re feeling tossed
And torn
And worn out like you’re war torn
But Jesus walked on water
So you don’t have to bother
Quit worrying about tomorrow partner
You can bet your bottom dollar
That tomorrow there will be sun.
Really? That’s all you’ve got?
When my soul is soiled with death
You want me to make a bet?
OK, I’ll make a wager
I bet the pain shooting through me
Like blades in my veins
Will yet remain
While you blame this on my sin of sadness?
You’ve got some nerve
I’m sick, I’m hungry, I’m cold, I’m alone
Widowed, orphaned, battered, owned.
What then, shall we say to these things?
If God is for us,
Why is death before us?
Everyone is against us
Can I just be honest, for a moment?
Before you shush me saying
I should count my many blessings
And do some five-fingered-praying
There is a lion crouching,
Waiting by my door
The arrow stayed its course
I’m a walking corpse
My food is tears, my drink is gall
My heart is failing
Wormwood in my guts
I’m done.
But,
The God who is rich in mercy
Before him eating dust
In his steadfast love I trust
I must
He is big enough
So I’ll bang my fists against His chest
He will not rest
Relentless till He comes
To fix this mess
Selah
I do not mean to suggest that there is something inherently wrong with smiling, or encouraging people to smile; however, when hurting people muster the courage to open their hearts to us, we would do well to listen to their words and bear with them. In 1 Corinthians 12 , the apostle Paul explains that the church is the Body of Christ, and like a single human body, “If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.” (1 Cor 12:26). To bear with someone is to hold up or support their weight (emotionally, spiritually speaking). Asking someone to slap a smile on their face when their heart is dying is not synonymous with supporting their emotional weight. Sometimes (maybe most of the time) our brothers and sisters suffering emotional, physical, and spiritual trauma do not need our quippy words and pick-me-up-bumper-sticker phrases; rather, our presence, our love, and our Sovereign God. Throughout the Psalms, Lamentations, Job, the prophets, Ecclesiastes, etc. honesty with God and the saints in the midst of suffering is encouraged, even when that honesty is uncomfortable and seems theologically incorrect (Check out: Psalm 43, Lamentations 3). We would do well to encourage and cultivate a community of honesty in joy and suffering, instead of encouraging our brothers and sisters to bury their pain deep behind manufactured smiles.
We can be honest before God and the saints because we know that God has never failed to fulfill anything He promised. We can be honest with our sufferings because we know that, “… the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” (Romans 8:18)
Life’s short. Preach Christ. Bear with the saints.
