When Life Feels Like a Country Song

Have you ever gone through a rough season? Work challenges, family struggles, health issues, an unshakable sense of melancholy or despair?  

Dumb question, right? I think I’ve just described the human experience. Why do you think so many people love country music? Your girl dumps you, your dog dies, someone puts a giant dent in the side of your F-150, and you turn it into a top 10 hit because that resonates with everyone on some level. 

Life can be really hard sometimes, even as followers of Jesus.  

Permission to Feel it All 

That’s why I love the Psalms. David was kind of the country music megastar of his generation (you know, 1000 BC). In just a few stanzas, he can go from the heights of worship, to flooding his bed with tears, to begging God to break the teeth of his enemies. It’s kind of like going from a Hillsong album, to a John Green novel, to a Bruce Lee flick, all in one stanza.  

All the emotions are there. King David never held back. And God never condemned him for it. In fact, he called him a man after His own heart. 

I’ve been sitting in the Psalms the last few weeks letting David’s brutal honesty wash over my own soul. Sometimes we just need to be honest with ourselves and feel it all. 

I know what I believe about God. I unequivocally trust Him. I know I’m His son, an image-bearer, beloved, redeemed, and being resurrected and restored. But I also know that God’s love doesn’t shield us from suffering in this fallen world. He simply promises to be with us and work redemptively through even the darkest moments of our lives.  

The God Who Weeps with Us 

In John 11, Jesus gets word that his dear friend Lazarus is sick. John tells us something very hard here: Jesus loved them, and yet He waited. And because He waited, Lazarus died. Some of His closest friends went through agony even though Jesus loved them.  

But here’s the kicker: Jesus knew He would resurrect Lazarus. He knew the end of the story! But when He encountered Mary’s grief and the weeping all around Him, He was deeply troubled—and He wept Himself. The God of the Universe cried with His friends. This tells us all we need to know about the God of every one of our emotions. 

From the songs of David to stories of Jesus, we see a God who enters our pain, who validates our lament, and who works toward a restoration we cannot fully see in this “already but not yet” season of time. So it isn’t that dark seasons won’t come, it’s that we serve a God who is with us in them, and whose death and resurrection is making all things right again. 

So, if you’re in the middle of another country music Grammy winner right now, remember these tethered promises of God: 

In this world, you will have trouble. (John 16:33)
I will never leave you or forsake you. (Hebrews 13:5) 

The promise was never that we wouldn’t hurt. The promise is that we would never hurt alone. So don’t be afraid to lament—to let it all out. You serve a God who is with you always. You can trust Him.