Episode 19 - Lament: More than Grief (1 of 2)

I don't think Jesus followers in our day and age have learned the power and biblical value of lament.  While others may tell you to "get over it" when you experience loss and pain, I've learned that simply stuffing your hurt down into your insides is dangerous.  Repressed grief is a recipe for a disastrous meltdown.  Lament is a "passionate expression of grief or sorrow."  The Bible helps us see that practicing lament is mingling grief and sorrow with prayer as we bring it into the presence of God.  Lament gives our pain a name and expresses it out loud.  This expression leads us to a place of our hope returning, and it usually contains some remembering and rehearsing where God has come through in the past.  From the biblical examples - we see that lament often ends in new trust in God and renewed strength.  This practice of authentic expression in a corporate manner can shape the culture.  It is my prayer that this short teaching will be used by our God to invite you into a more honest place of grieving your losses, weeping with those who weep.