The Louder Song: Listening for Hope in the Midst of Lament

Lament helps us hear God's louder song.

When you're in the midst of suffering, you want answers for the unanswerable, resolutions to the unresolvable. You want to tie up pain in a pretty little package and hide it under the bed, taking it out only when you feel strong enough to face it. But grief won't be contained. Grief disobeys. Grief explodes. In one breath, you may be able to say that God's got this and all will be well. In the next, you might descend into fatalism. No pretending. Here, you are raw before God, an open wound.

There is a pathway through this suffering. It's not easy, but God will use it to lead you toward healing. This path is called lament. Lament leads us between the Already and the Not Yet. Lament minds the gap between current hopelessness and coming hope. Lament anticipates new creation but also acknowledges the painful reality of now. Lament recognizes the existence of evil and suffering--without any sugarcoating--while simultaneously declaring that suffering will not have the final say.

In the midst of your darkest times, you will discover that lament leads you back to a place of hope--not because lamenting does anything magical, but because God sings a louder song than suffering ever could, a song of renewal and restoration.