Feb 16

Feb 16 Learning to Lament Part 1: Lament Well

Adversity, Faith/Trust, God's Will, Grief, Hope, Lament

I am the Lord your God, who teaches you for [your] benefit, who leads you in the way you should go.

Isaiah 48:17 CSB

In recent years, the topic of biblical lament has surfaced in teaching and writing. About two years ago, I began exploring it myself and realized there was something deep within me I needed to face—something I had pushed aside instead of bringing honestly before the Lord. How do we do this well? What does healthy lament really look like?

Lament isn’t a one-time expression but a journey—one I’m still walking. Because of that, this will be a series this week. I pray it will encourage you as it continues to shape me.

Learning to lament, to grieve well, doesn’t come naturally to many of us. I love the Lord and trust Him, so lament seemed like complaining. Yet ignoring pain or pretending everything is fine is not spiritual maturity. Burying sorrow never brings healing.

I realized I had been holding on to a dream of what I expected life to be. Reality turned out far different—beautiful in ways I never imagined, yet also harder than I expected. That tension between gratitude and grief was difficult to admit and even harder to reconcile. Perhaps you’ve felt something similar.

Lament invites us to bring this honest mixture to God. We cry out, ask why, name the disappointments and longings that remain unmet. In the same breath we say, “Jesus, I love You, I trust You, I need You.” As we do, the Holy Spirit meets us with comfort we didn’t even know to ask for.

Lament isn’t about simply “getting over it.” God teaches us how to live with lament—to move forward carrying both trust and sorrow. My life doesn’t look the way I imagined, yet I know God is good and brings good even from what I wouldn’t have chosen.

So name the pain. Tell God the truth about your hurts. Then hand it back to Him again—today, tomorrow, and each time it rises.

Chris Adams

Chris Adams

Chris Adams is an author, speaker, blogger, and women’s ministry consultant. She retired in 2017 after serving over 22 years as the Women’s Ministry Specialist at LifeWay Christian Resources, Nashville, Tennessee. Chris helped pioneer women’s ministry as we know it today and compiled three women’s leadership books: Women Reaching Women, Transformed Lives, and Women Reaching Women in Crisis.

Prior to her employment at LifeWay she was the special ministries coordinator at Green Acres Baptist Church in Tyler, Texas overseeing women’s ministry and missions education.

For fun you can find Chris reading, spending time with family or at the beach. She married Pat in 1971 and they have twin daughters, two sons in law, 14 grandchildren, and 5 great grands. She recently became a Yorkie mom again for the third time. A self-proclaimed chocolate connoisseur, Chris is famous for her toffee.