Lament and the Mission of God (4)
Part 4, Finding Hope
In this series of articles, I have been considering the role that lament plays in aligning us with God’s mission on earth. My understanding of the Bible, and my personal experiences, have led me to the unwavering conviction that God redeems pain. As I wrote in the first article, I want to emphasise that God’s mission is to reveal his redeeming grace to humanity at large, and to us individually. Within that process, lament can be a critical component because it is often in the hardest times of life that we lean most heavily on God’s redemptive grace.
We have seen in this series that lamenting is appropriate for us as believers because we reflect God’s heart concerning a fallen world. We lament on a macro level for the sin, injustice, and pain that humanity experiences, and we also lament for the losses that we have personally experienced. However, lament is not a destination. It is a gift of grace through which we can encounter God and experience his tender mercy, and through which we move towards healing.
Pete Greig has written:
‘It’s a common human tendency to settle in our grief, to redefine the geography of our lives according to the contours of our pain. And, of course, when we are bereaved and hurting, it’s important to stop for a while and lament our loss. It’s not healthy to continue as if nothing is wrong. But neither is it healthy to make disappointment our permanent domain.’*
As believers in Jesus, we can trust that God will redeem our pain. He can bring good from bad! That’s why Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 4:13 that we do not grieve without hope. Our faith in Jesus means that there is always hope for healing, hope for restoration, and hope for redemption.
Ever since I wrote Grief and Grace, I have had numerous conversations with people who are processing grief. One thing I have observed is that a massive obstacle to finding hope is the barrier of guilt. Guilt can cripple us from finding healing. Whether our loss is due to death, the loss of a dream, marriage, a job, or just the general disappointments we face in the world, grief confronts us with our failings and inadequacies. Our spiritual enemy can exaggerate these to cause us to become stuck and not find healing. In this mindset, guilt compounds our grief.
If our grief is contaminated with guilt, then we need to confess it before the Lord and seek support from others. Guilt will cause us to remain stuck and prevent the process of healing.
In my journey of lament, I have learnt that the antidote to guilt is gratitude. In the days after losing my wife, I had to learn to be grateful for the small things, the memories, and the privilege of having shared life with her. I began to list them. It wasn’t an immediate cure for my pain, but it enabled me to be thankful even while grieving. I believe this is an important part of lamenting which can, over time, help us to reach a place of acceptance.
Guilt will derail us. Gratitude will strengthen us.
That’s why Paul writes:
‘Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus’ (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).
This isn’t easy, but it is necessary. Gratitude doesn’t mean that we are automatically happy. Rather, gratitude enables us to hold on to hope. It is a survival mechanism. We can summarise the contrast as follows:
- Grief + Guilt = hopelessness. We become stuck.
- Grief + Gratitude = hope. We find new horizons. This is essential for lament to lead to healing.
So, we’re back to highlighting the link between lament and the mission of God. God’s redeeming love is the ultimate message of hope to a broken world. And, in his grace, he will tenderly lead us through some seemingly intolerable trials so that we can learn to hold on to hope and experience his redeeming power. This is the paradox of pain which can make it a beautiful gift.
It is this perspective that enables us to echo the words of Paul;
‘Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal’ 2 Corinthians 4:16-18.
If you are in a season of lament, then please do not lose heart. God is at work. His mission is to redeem your pain and enable you to be a beacon of hope in this hurting world.
* Pete Greig, Dirty Glory, p.124.
