Good Grief: Learning to Lament With JobSample

JOB LIFTS UP HIS COMPLAINTS

As we continue through Job’s story, it makes sense that he would have something to say about the pain and suffering that he’s facing. In fact, he has A LOT to say about it. As he’s with his friends they all take turns trying to come up with reasons for why Job’s pain is so deep. Job has listened to his friends suggest all kinds of scenarios as to why it would be that he has suffered so greatly. Mostly they assume that he MUST have done something against God to deserve such pain in his life. Job continues to defend himself because he knows that nothing in his past leads to the reality he’s now facing.

One important lesson that we can learn here from Job’s friends is what not to say. Part of our human nature is to say something or to try to fix a problem when someone close to us is hurting. The reality is that sometimes it’s better to say nothing and many things are not fixable on earth. We need to learn how to sit with others in their grief and allow them to feel what they feel and experience what they experience. To grieve and be sad are God-given emotions. It’s ok to feel those things. We can lament with others without trying to explain away their pain, or trying to figure out the meaning of their loss.

In the practice of lament, we are invited to take our complaints to the Father. Lamenting allows us to move toward hope even in the midst of our pain.

“Faith does not eliminate questions. But faith knows where to take them.” (Elisabeth Elliot, wife of missionary Jim Elliot who was killed by natives he was ministering to in Ecuador in the 1950s.)

Ask Yourself and Journal:

-What complaints do I need to pray out to God?

-How can I be a better friend to someone who is grieving?

-How can I lament with those around me?

Pause to Pray: Choose a portion of Job’s laments from today’s passages and use them to write your own lament, for yourself or for a friend.