Christian faith answers suffering best when it has no answer

I must have attempted to nail an article like this many times, but so often words evade me even when I’m focused on such a topic, because I attempt to explain the inexplicable.

The rich and caverns-deep Christian tradition of Lament is the answer to suffering exactly because it doesn’t pretend to have an answer.  In lament, which is being true to the sorrow and fear and grief in a situation, there is a bold acknowledgement that there is no answer.

Lament defies sceptics who expect 
Christians to put up SOME answer.

Sceptics know that pretentious answers 
reduce Christian faith to hocus pocus.

I’m sure many Christians feel their faith needs to have answers to all things.  They feel it must have some ‘value’ to this degree—it must be ‘good’ for something when life is tough!  Yet, precisely the opposite is what true Christian faith is about—being brave and humble enough to honour the truth, and honest enough to know that there are no ‘pat’ answers to the toughest situations in life.

But that’s not the end of it!  On the contrary, Christian faith IS the answer to every lamentable situation, however long lasting the situations may be, when it offers no answer.

Here are some reasons why Christian faith answers suffering best when it has no answer:

§     In not pretending to have the answer, there is no spiritual bypassing, but the opportunity to sit and do what Lament does—lament.  Lament has integrity with the truth of what hurts so much! Lament is stillness, and in stillness despite the pain there is healing.

§     In lamenting we get the opportunity to engage in what I call ‘facing’, which is simply sitting there in the presence of suffering’s reality, which is something that doesn’t defeat us when we engage in it.  It often compels us to reach out for support.  And in facing, we find that our suffering doesn’t comprehensively defeat us, though it does take us to a place of blessed brokenness for what cannot be changed.

§     One moment at a time, we find with facing, we CAN endure it, and the pain always teaches us something—which is often something we learn by faith in the moment as we look back afterwards.  There are fathoms of depth to be learned in compassion through suffering, for one instance.

§     And that’s not all.  When ‘facing’ with the genuine support of another, there’s a confidence gained when neither gives way to the temptation to need an answer.  This involves getting to that rare place of Liminal Space—which is that in-between place between what-was and what-will-be.  Nothing heals us quite as effectively, nor gives us confidence in the faithfulness of God, as sitting in liminal space.

§     In being broken beyond our capacity to bear, we’re not broken forever.  We learn that being broken and feeling broken are actually an essential part of Christian faith—Jesus was broken.  Hardly ever will we grow like we do when we’re in a place of extended brokenness.

§     The world needs to see more examples of true Christian faith in suffering that has no answer and pretends nothing whatsoever—honouring horrific realities is respectful but denying and bypassing reveals hypocrisy.  There is so much Christian tradition that speaks to the reality of Christians who prospered even as they suffered, and this speaks nothing about the spiritual blessings enjoyed afterward in keeping with Hebrews 12:11.

§     Moments are transformed when we take the pressure out of them.  When it’s acknowledged that there’s no answer, the moment is freed up of pressure to do the impossible, which is of course ludicrous.  It’s in these moments of being utterly useless, where all we can do is accept what is, where God’s power resides most.

§     This must simply be experienced to know its power: sit with sadness and call it what it is, without needing to change it or explain it away, and we find that sadness truly appreciates being met.  Our sadness craves recognition.  Recognising our sadness is essential to our wellbeing.  In the brokenness IS the healing.

§     The extended time period we suffer for keeps us in the growth zone.  Growth is the only compensation for suffering, which is paradoxical, because growth is wonderful, but it is also replete with pain.  So by being kept in the situation of our grief we learn what we would otherwise not.

Sceptics of Christian faith may have seen responses to suffering by Christians that are neither biblical nor helpful, for example the use of spiritual bypassing like, “Just focus on the positives in your life... count your blessings... don’t worry and don’t fear, God will use your suffering for good... don’t you know that God is with you,” etc, including pat use of Bible verses.  None of this is from a heart to help.  Whilst there is truth in these statements, they shortcut the power of God.

TRUE CHRISTIAN FAITH

True Christian faith denies nothing of the suffering realities we encounter and find we’re marooned in.  Those of true faith sit there in the reality of our distress with us—yes, that’s true relational faith.  These are the faithful, utilising the power of faith in acknowledging there is no answer.  The last thing a person who’s suffering wants from a support person is an attitude that doesn’t honour the starkness of the reality they’re in.

To sit there and lament means no explaining it away as if we mere humans could have any logical, helpful, or valuable insight about the situation and a step-by-step on how to recover.

The truth is suffering is beyond human answer.  No human being can rationalise it.  (Isaiah 55:8-9 attests to this truth.)  Only as we engage in lament are we given a process that helps to keep us safe in the moment and gives us hope for healing eventually.

Everyone is dubious about a religion or faith system that pretends to have the market cornered on suffering, and that’s because most of the world knows it’s too complex and too impossible for human fixing.

Lament is central to true healing, 
ONE DAY AT A TIME, 
by faith,
over the long haul.

Somehow—and I can’t explain how—just by sitting and facing our anguish, by learning the practice and engaging in it, we give ourselves the best chance of healing.

The reason this is the case is we see that we can bear it and that gives us confidence and hope, and somehow the pain dissipates when we bear the truth, even though the source of grief doesn’t change.

Suffering demands a response, and lament is that response.