When Faith Learns to Lament
About the book
“Lament is not the opposite of faith. It is the sound faith makes when it refuses to lie.”
What do you do when the verses stop fitting? When the diagnosis does not change. When the prayer goes unanswered. When someone hands you everything happens for a reason and you have to walk away before you say something you cannot take back.
Have you felt ashamed of being angry at God? Have you wondered whether your questions disqualify you from being counted among the faithful?
They do not, and you are in older company than you think.
Dr Michael Janse van Rensburg spent six years writing a doctoral thesis on how a good God can be present in a suffering world. Fifteen months after he finished it, his wife Lynn was diagnosed with stage four cancer and given weeks to live. This book was written from inside that room — not afterwards, not from a safe distance, but from within a story that has not yet resolved.
Drawing on Scripture’s own language of protest: the psalms of lament, Job’s unanswered questions, Gethsemane, and a Saviour who wept at a grave He was about to open. When Faith Learns to Lament gives grieving Christian’s permission to bring God the truth instead of a performance.
The book is for anyone who is grieving. Whether what you are carrying is cancer, chronic illness, caregiving, bereavement, divorce, infertility, dementia, or whether you love someone who is carrying it and you do not know what to say.
You will not find five steps, a tidy ending, or a promise the author cannot keep. You will find company, honest theology, and permission to grieve without losing your faith.
From the author of Where Are You, God? My Wife Has Cancer.
The book carries a foreword by Pastor Jo Swart, Senior Pastor at Life Church Somerset West, who has known Michael and Lynn since they were teenagers. She came to Lynn’s hospital bedside in the week the doctors gave them no hope.
About the author
Dr Michael Janse van Rensburg lives in Strand, South Africa, with his wife Lynn and their two sons, TJ and Daniel. He holds a Doctor of Theology and serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Heritage Western Cape. His academic work has explored questions of faith, suffering, and the presence of God in a world marked by pain and uncertainty.
Where Are You, God? My Wife Has Cancer is the book he never intended to write. Inspired by his family’s cancer journey, it tells the story of Lynn’s battle with sarcoma and the impact it has had on their marriage, faith, and family life. Through sharing their story, Michael and Lynn hopes to offer encouragement, companionship, and hope to others walking a similar road.
Publisher: MLTD Janse van Rensburg Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-0483-1412-0
More information about the book, including excerpts, reviews, and purchase options, is available at WrittenForLynn.com
South Africa:
- Author direct
- Takealot.com (Coming soon)
Internationally: