A Son's Lament

A very biblical thing to do is to practice lament in situations of hurt or loss. The following is a lament I wrote today in response to the death of my Dad:

I praise You, Father God, for intervening in my life and adopting me as Your own and becoming for me the father I never had.

My Dad is gone, he is dead, and with his passing is the death of a relationship that could have been, but never was. I feel like a child who did not grow up because his Dad was emotionally distant, and did not give support, guidance, and the connection I so desparately needed, who in his last words on earth said to me, "I cannot talk about it."

Yet, in the pain of my father-wound, I place my trust in my heavenly Father to do for me what I cannot do for myself, and to enter into deep relation with me as the ultimate father of grace, mercy, and unending love for his son.

May You heal me, O God, and give me the wisdom, the courage, and the power to navigate this depraved world in the absence of my own flesh and blood. Would You help me to be a father to my own children as You have been a father to me. May You use Your church as my family.

You are not called "Father" for nothing, for what human father would give his son a snake when he asks for bread. I know that Your plans and direction for me are good.

I sit in patience, for You will make me the man you want me to be. I praise Your name, which is Father, for you have turned my mourning into joy, and my despair into gladness. Amen.