Learning to Lament, Our Heavenly Father's embrace when we grieve

Lamenting in the face of grief and loss is therapeutic. It is also theologically sound. So why then don’t we lament? Or at least, why don’t we lament well? Not wanting to let the side down, we may buy into a stoical or even triumphant brand of Christianity. We forget to be human. Or we can confuse lamenting with its forbidden cousin, grumbling, which crosses a line. The author guides us skilfully through the Bible’s teaching, introducing us to key characters whom we can emulate. He shares from his own wealth of personal and pastoral experience. He sits beside us as we work through our tears to a place of confidence and trust. This life-giving book will meet you where you are in an experience which is no less raw and painful for being universal. Here you find empathy and deep comfort. You are held securely in your Heavenly Father’s warm embrace.

Publisher: Union Publishing
Type: Paperback
ISBN: 9781739342661

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Paul Mallard is Pastor of Widcombe Baptist Church in Bath, UK. He speaks at numerous Christian events and has trained a generation of church workers. His wife Edrie’s story is told movingly in Invest Your Disappointments (IVP, 2013). Paul and Edrie are parents and grandparents.

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“Paul Mallard writes honestly and movingly from his own personal experiences of profound and inexplicable loss. With gentle wisdom, heartfelt sensitivity, and deep biblical knowledge, he helps us to see the importance of lament in the Christian life. He guides us in how to use biblical words to express our pain and discover afresh the heart of God himself. This is a much-needed book for all those who grieve and those who seek to accompany and support them on their journey.” John Wyatt, emeritus professor of neonatal paediatrics at University College London and author of Dying Well and The Final Lap