Sessions Include:

Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy, Lesson #1
Life in a Minor Key
Psalm 77

Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy, Lesson #2
Bring Your Complaints to God
Psalm 10

Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy, Lesson #3
Ask Boldly
Psalm 22

Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy, Lesson #4
Choose to Trust
Psalm 13

Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy, Lesson #5
Broken World; Holy God
Lamentations 1 - 2

Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy, Lesson #6
Hope Springs from Truth Rehearsed
Lamentations 3

Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy, Lesson #7
Unearthing Idols
Lamentations 5

“God, I know you’re not mean, but it feels like you are today.”

Sarah and I were sitting in our car outside our doctor’s office. My wife’s blunt prayer was all she could muster. We were devastated. Again.

This grief felt cruel.

Our previous appointment was to confirm a pregnancy after Sylvia’s death. Two years and multiple miscarriages later, we were finally beyond the time frame of the prior failed pregnancies. We were filled with guarded hope. Our doctor ordered an ultrasound to confirm the new life in Sarah’s womb. We couldn’t wait to see the flutter of a little heartbeat. This appointment was to be redemptive. I hoped it would bring closure.

But it only brought more pain.

The ultrasound room was too familiar—the same room where we learned of Sylvia’s death. As the doctor began to move the wand over Sarah’s womb, a shadow of concern crossed his face. Sarah watched carefully and noticed. She raised her head. “What is it?” she asked. I thought she was overreacting. I tried to reassure her. But the look on the doctor’s face was now clear to me as well. Something was wrong.

“I don’t know how to tell you this,” our doctor said, “but there’s no baby in your womb. Your hormone levels are good. There’s a home, but there’s no baby. It’s called a blighted ovum—a false positive pregnancy.” Sarah’s head fell back. She sobbed. Again.

We walked—numb—to the car. I closed the door. We needed to pray. But what do you say in this moment? While I didn’t understand it at the time, Sarah’s prayer is what you’ll find as you study lament. Her prayer was a complaint—an honest and blunt conversation with God. And in order for you to learn how to experience the mercy of lament, you need to learn to complain.

Godly Complaint

After we take the first step of turning to God in prayer, the next is bringing our complaints to him. There’s a tension here. I’m sure you already feel it. Complain isn’t a very positive word. We don’t like complainers. It seems like the wrong response to situations where we should be content or thankful. But is that always the case? Is complaining always wrong?

It can’t be.

If you read the psalms of lament, you’ll discover a lot of creative complaining. You’ll find expressions of sorrow, fear, frustration, and even confusion. In other words, the Bible is full of complaints. And apparently they aren’t sinful. In fact, they were set to music as an entire congregation sang their frustration. Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not giving you permission to vent self-centered rage at God when life has not turned out like you planned. I’m not suggesting for a second you have a right to be angry with God. I think that is always wrong.

Mark Vroegop, Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy: Discovering the Grace of Lament(Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2019), 17–19.

Check out our Bible Study on Dark Clouds; Deep Mercy. A bible study on the book of Lamentations as well as some Psalms of Lament.

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