The Louder Song: Listening for Hope in the Midst of Lament

Lament helps us hear God?s louder song.When you?re in the midst of suffering, you want answers for the unanswerable, resolutions to the unresolvable. You want to tie up pain in a pretty little package and hide it under the bed, taking it out only when you feel strong enough to face it. But grief won?t be contained. Grief disobeys. Grief explodes. In one breath, you may be able to say that God?s got this and all will be well. In the next, you might descend into fatalism. No pretending. Here, you are raw before God, an open wound.There is a pathway through this suffering. It?s not easy, but God will use it to lead you toward healing. This path is called lament. Lament leads us between the Already and the Not Yet. Lament minds the gap between current hopelessness and coming hope. Lament anticipates new creation but also acknowledges the painful reality of now. Lament recognizes the existence of evil and suffering?without any sugarcoating?while simultaneously declaring that suffering will not have the final say.In the midst of your darkest times, you will discover that lament leads you back to a place of hope?not because lamenting does anything magical, but because God sings a louder song than suffering ever could, a song of renewal and restoration. Review Aubrey Sampson is a fresh voice when your broken heart needs a fresh wind. Lean into these pages and you?ll hear the beauty of the Louder Song?that your soul is desperately longing to hear.Ann Voskamp, NYT bestselling author of The Broken WayThere?s no denying we live in a fallen, broken, and sinful world?a world of pain?where suffering is a reality for all of us at various levels. Aubrey Sampson peels away the layers of pretense that often masquerade as outward strength or valor as she unpacks an expressive theology of lament. Anchored by her own faith journey and experience of personal loss and suffering, Aubrey encourages authenticity and fosters hope for those who are in the midst of pain and suffering. I am confident this book will be of great encouragement to you as you reflect on the experiences of lament in a world of suffering.Ed Stetzer, PhD, executive director of the Billy Graham CenterIf you want permission to ask God the hard questions about suffering, Sampson extends an embossed invitation. Here she offers a highly accessible tour of the lost art of biblical lament, teaching along the way with utmost pastoral care?and with just enough vulnerability to persuade hurting readers that their guide is trustworthy. One certain outcome: You will never look at snow globes the same way again.Andy Olsen, managing editor of Christianity TodayIn this vulnerable account of her own pain, Aubrey Sampson helps us believe that life can be hard . . . and God can still be good. Anchored in Scripture and enlivened by storytelling, this powerful book makes something lyrical of lament. And I suppose this, too, is a mystery?that the most beautiful songs are often born out of suffering.The Louder Song will be a pleasure to recommend and reread.Jen Michel, author of Surprised by ParadoxThis is a beautiful book. It is real about lament and honest about suffering, but not without hope. With reflections on lament that are both deeply personal and guided by Scripture,The Louder Song composes a harmonious tune that will be restorative music to the ears of anyone who has felt isolated, unknown, or hopeless in their pain. Emily Dickinson once wrote, ??Hope? is the thing with feathers? / That perches in the soul? / And sings the tune without the words? / And never stops?at all?.? The buoyancy of enduring, Christ-filled, soul-stirring hope, even in the midst of pain, comes through in Aubrey Sampson?s transparent and evocative writing. This is a song you?ll want to put on repeat.Brett McCracken, senior editor at The Gospel CoalitionIf you are in the middle of deep hurt,The Louder Song is a powerful reminder of how God meets us in the middl