The Art of Lament

When I am in pain I write.

When I write, it does not always make sense... Thank you in advance for your tenderness.

I am not a theologian or scholar or ardent student of the subject of pain and suffering. I am not an authority on the subject.

I am a girl with a blog and we all gotta start somewhere right?

Lament can be a noun or verb.

Lament (noun) A passionate expression of grief or sorrow.

Lament (verb) to mourn (a person's loss or death) or to express one's deep grief about something or someone. 

Grief is a process. This is true. We do not "act" like it's true.

We want people to hurry up, get over it, get better and be back to normal. I want normal and you do too.

The best thing we can do when someone is grieving is just be there. The ministry of presence.

The best thing we can do when someone is lamenting is pray with them and for them.

We must be there for each other to help process grief like Job's friends but NOT like Job's friends in their judgmental/"where's your sin Job" approach. 

Warren Wiersbe's book: "Why us? When Bad Things Happen to God's People" noted a very good point. 

"The basic theme of the book of Job is GOD, not suffering, and the book answers very few questions. However, the book of Job is an important document for our case that God is big enough to help us when life tumbles in." (emphasis mine)

The LORD reminded me of an image.

When I was in college I took a photography class and we even had the opportunity to process the film of the photos we shot.

Photographic processing or photographic development is the chemical process by which photographic film (or paper) is treated after photographic exposure to produce a negative or positive image. 

The chemicals are stinky. 

The process room is dark.

"All photographic processing use a series of chemical baths" one article stated. "Processing especially the development stages, requires very close control of temperature, agitation and time."

Temperature, agitation and time...

Temperature, agitation and time...

ALL in a controlled environment. 

Although the photographic film room is stinky, there is a bubbling of joy and enthusiasm going on inside of you.

Will any of these prints come out nice?

Did I shoot an Ansel Adams worthy work of art?

There is a thrill of hope...Through the stinky process you sense something beautiful will emerge. 

The LORD does promise to bring beauty from ashes but it gets hard to trust this Truth when you've been living with ashes for a long long time. 

We do trust the One in the control room. 

We trust the finger of God holding the thermostat. King Jesus will not use the temperature, agitation and time for nothing....He DOES have a purpose, a Kingdom purpose. But again, it's hard to see this beyond the ashes at times...the ashes of grief and pain and mourning can be blinding. 

Our Awesome Lord reminded me of another image in comforting my heart through this season of lament.

Nursing.

Nursing? Like a baby?

Yes.

I remember when I was nursing Olivia I would feel strong striking pains in my body. What is that?

"Women who breastfeed burn extra calories to make milk...Nursing also triggers contractions that help shrink the uterus making it a workout for the whole body" (from babycenter.com)

Lamentation is like nursing. You are releasing tears all the while feeling contractions in your body yourself. A new birth is coming. A new life will be born. What can be more comforting than a nursing mom with her newborn? The baby is cradled and comforted, but the mom feels the contractions.

Let God cradle you. Let Him nurse you through lament as He holds your tears in a bottle. He wants to comfort you and feed you and let you lean on Him, not on your own understanding. 

I cannot emphasize this enough- Lamenting makes us more like Jesus. 

I know I know, you do not want to hear that. I do not want to say it (or type it) but it's true.

Pain places us at the feet of our Savior. Grief causes us to look to Him over and over and over again.

When I have experienced exuberant joy (the birth of my children, my wedding day, passing the bar exam, other moments like seeing Mt Rainier for the first time or Yellowstone, or even the ocean or a stunning sunrise) the moment is quick. The joy fades. It's so short lived. We can go back to the moment and be re-filled with joy...but it fades. Grief seems to linger. When we are in a season of lamenting...it feels like FOREVER and stays with us like gum on your shoe.

Think of it. We praise HARDER in our season of lament than in our season of joy. In the season of lament our eyes are on the thermostat. God, are you there? Will you turn the temperature down a bit? Are you still in the control room? Please Jesus help! Help! Help!

Our cries are birthing something. We learn to appreciate life again. Breath again. We appreciate His Word again because He brings fresh manna like breakfast in bed when we are dying inside. He brings water to our soul like a drink in Death Valley National Park. We sense Him. Not in a weird mystical way- but in reality. 

HE IS NEAR TO THE BROKEN HEARTED. (Psalm 34:18)

He is there. (Ezekiel 48:35)

He is here. (John 6:20)

Immanuel God with us. (Matt 1:23)

Yahweh Shammah - GOD IS THERE. God is here. 

Some scholars say there are 42 Psalms of lament in scripture and 16 national Psalms of lament. 

They say when you are suffering you should "live" in the Psalms. This is wise and true.

Sorrow may last for a night, but joy comes in the morning. (Psalm 30:5)

Yes, there will be morning after mourning. (Lam 3:23)

There will be laughter after lament. (Luke 6:21)

The whole thing takes time. (Eccl 3:2-4)

It is a process. (Psalm 23) We are wise to learn the art of lament. 

We are strong when our Father cradle us, even when we are crying, let us come and adore Him.