Lamenting with the Spirit

While in the States my wife Patty and I watched a service online of a church we attended before moving to South Africa.  The head pastor led the congregation through a time of grieving for a beloved pastor who served for 20 years in the church and had recently passed away. It was devastating to watch.

This pastor was in his fifties and had walked through a dark season of the soul, experiencing physical and mental issues. The head pastor was not at liberty to say how his pastor friend had died-but there were many unanswered questions.  How does a church recover from such a painful loss of one of their spiritual leaders? The wise pastor leading the service stepped right into the pain, anger, whys, and deep grief, with what the Bible calls “lament.”

In the Bibles prayer book the Psalms, there are at least 65 Psalms of lament. These are songs and prayers of asking God why are these bad things happening? How could He a loving God allow them, where is He in all this chaos, and would He please act in the midst of such deep darkness.

We live in a world marred with pain and suffering where even “creation groans” knowing this was not how it was created to be (Rom. 8:22).  Cancer and all forms of disease, divorce, broken relationships, injustice, natural disasters, fires, covid, wars, poverty, sexual abuse, mental illness, unexpected deaths, persecution, are just a few of the reasons to lament.

A few days after listening to the pastor lead his congregation through this season of lamenting I was studying Romans 8, reading from NT Wright who pointed out how the Holy Spirit comes along side our spirits and He groans with us over things we don’t understand. The Holy Spirit takes the groans which are to0 deep for words and turns them into prayers before the Father (Rom. 8:26-27).

These groans or laments find their way to the heart of our loving Father who is deeply moved by them. These laments and groans are also depicted by His own Son Jesus who prayed a lament from Psalm 22 calling out from the cross, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken me…”  The Father heard the cry of His Son, whom He deeply loved for all eternity, and this lament was answered 3 days later at the Resurrection, where all the wrongs were made right and a new day of hope dawned for all who are in Christ.

When we groan out the prayers of lament through the Holy Spirit t something mystical occurs. We for one share in the suffering of Christ which moves the heart of the Father and His promise is that a day is coming where “In everything God works for good with those who love Him,” (Rom. 8:28, RSV).

Being back in South Africa it is easy for us to get overwhelmed by the countless needs and suffering of those around us. We help the best we can but it always feels like it is just a drop in the bucket. Yet God’s Word reminds me in the midst of all the wrongs, pain, and suffering I can join in with the Spirit of Jesus and bring my laments to the Father who promises to act and work with my prayers to bring about a Good Love, that will never be overcome by evil, as stated in the glorious end of Romans 8.

Our Savior Jesus demonstrated to us how His lament led to Resurrection Love that made Him King, a King who reversed the curse of sin and death for all who put their hope in Him. A resurrection day is coming for all His beloved children!

As followers of Christ we have the opportunity to take our suffering as well as the suffering of others and lament with the Holy Spirit in us. We are invited to bring these groans and laments to a loving Father who will act because of His glorious resurrection power and one day will make all wrongs right.