From Lament to Healing Community

But Samuel replied: “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.” — 1 Samuel 15:22

We aren’t built to carry pain alone. But that’s exactly what most of us try to do. We bury it. We wear a smile in public while we bleed inside. We tell ourselves nobody would get it, or we think being vulnerable makes us look weak. Especially in church, it’s easy to fake strong.

But that’s not how God set things up. Healing is meant to happen in community. Not through surface-level conversations or quick advice. Through honest, raw, sitting-down kind of community where people aren’t scared to say, “I’m not okay.”

In 1 Samuel 15, Saul’s biggest mistake wasn’t just disobeying God. It was caring more about how he looked than who he really was. When he got called out, he wanted to save face instead of save his soul. We still do the same thing. We protect our image, even if it costs us our peace.

Jesus showed us another way. When He was in Gethsemane, knowing the cross was coming, He didn’t go alone. He brought His closest friends and told them straight up, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.” If Jesus chose honesty with His people in His darkest hour, why do we think we should do it differently?

You don’t need a crowd. You need a few real people. People who won’t rush to fix you but will sit with you, pray for you, and remind you who God is when you forget.

So today, ask yourself: who are my people? Who can I be real with? And if that’s missing right now, pray for God to bring those people into your life.