Navigating Suffering with Lament
As Christians, we often struggle to reconcile our faith in God’s sovereignty with the pain and suffering we experience. However, there is a powerful tool that can help us navigate these difficult times: lament.
A Language for Grief
Lament gives us a way to express our sorrow and grief to God, while also asking him to lead us to deeper trust. As Mark Vroegop writes in “Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy,” “Lament is how you live between the poles of a hard life and trusting in God’s sovereignty. Lament is how we bring our sorrow to God.”
The Importance of Lament
In today’s world, Christianity can often seem unbalanced and limited in its hope. However, by recovering the ancient practice of lament, we can find a more nuanced and realistic way to deal with pain. As Vroegop notes, “Christianity suffers when lament is missing.”
A Prayer in Pain
Lament is not just a complaint or a cry of despair; it is a prayer that leads to trust. It is the song we sing when we believe that one day God will answer and restore us. As Vroegop writes, “Lament invites us to pray through our struggle with a life that is far from perfect.”
Humility and Dependence
When we lament, we must do so with a humble heart. We recognize our powerlessness to control everything and our need for God’s help. As Vroegop notes, “Pain has a way of awakening us to our need for God’s help.”
Trust in the Face of Suffering
Trust is not the absence of doubt or fear; it is believing what we know to be true, even when the facts of suffering might call that belief into question. As Vroegop writes, “Trust is believing what you know to be true even though the facts of suffering might call that belief into question.”
A Record of God’s Steadfast Love
As Christians, we have a record of God’s steadfast love, and we should remind ourselves of this love when we are struggling. We trusted in God’s grace to save us, and we must continue to trust in his love and care throughout our lives.
Lament as a Christian Practice
To lament is to turn to God in prayer, lay out our complaints, ask boldly, and choose to trust. It is a fundamentally Christian practice that recognizes our dependence on God and our need for his help.
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