Strength Through Grief in Him

 

We all have grief in our lives, daily sorrow, temporary grief, and grief at a significant loss. We have grief over a lost job, a pet, and certain people in our lives that moved away or passed on. As human beings with feelings (a soul), we suffer.

Recently I lost my mother. She was 97 years old, and the grief I feel at her passing is beyond anything I have experienced before in 62 years of life. I did not expect to feel this way; after all, she was 97. And yet, for her to be gone is almost incomprehensible to me.

There are so many ways to view grief and suffering, and so many scriptures in God’s word to encourage us in it. We know that He has not promised we would escape this world without suffering, but He promised to help us through.  Grief can bring many positives to our lives if we allow God to lead and comfort us.

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. (Matthew 5:4)

God comforts me daily, and I feel His peace around me even when the tears flow, and God heals our broken hearts no matter how they were broken. We can be assured that He cares for us and understands our pain.

Christ loved Lazarus and wept when He saw His grave. He knew He would raise Lazarus again, but still, He wept for Lazarus’ experience and the pain of those around Him. His empathy for our situations is far greater than we can understand. John 11:35 may be the shortest verse in the Bible, but it is full of complexities, just like our grief.

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. (Psalm 147:3)

Whatever the grief you are suffering from, be it isolation, illness, loss of a job, pet, or person, what you are going through can positively affect your life.  God is answering your prayers in the way that best for you.  He is working to bring everyone around you into a relationship with Him, and He is working to bring you closer too.

Our Father does not cause bad things to happen, but He wants us to rely on Him when they do. We could allow ourselves to wallow in our grief and let it steal the joy from our lives. Having faith is not easy when all we feel is pain. Trusting someone we cannot see to make things better might seem not doable, but that’s the point of faith. If it were easy, we wouldn’t need faith, and without faith, it is impossible to please God.

Casting all your anxieties on him because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:7)

We are living in the most challenging times in the history of the United States. Those of you from other countries have gone through even worse. Not only are we suffering our times of sadness, but we are also watching the uncertainty around us, which causes fear and grief for the loss of what we have known.

Cast your cares on Christ. Even when you don’t feel like He is near or that He is answering your prayers, He is. When we toss and turn and cry, He keeps track of our tears as He did for King David.

You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book? (Psalm 56:8)

We are all in His plan, and we know the ending of the story. God wins. I will grieve for my loss, and you will grieve for your loss, but our gain in Christ is so significant that we can know a peace that the world will never understand. We are made to grieve. It is not something we choose to do; it is built into our beings by the very Creator Himself.

We are in a time of tribulation, and the last days may be near, but even if Christ does not return tomorrow, we are still one day closer to His coming. Rejoice in your salvation. You will survive whatever you are going through. Watch to see what God does in your life and the lives of those around you.

For everything, there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; ... (Ecclesiastes 3:1-17)

Refrain from embracing (how prophetic) keep your distance, be safe, allow yourself to grieve, and open your heart up to the love of Christ, who has overcome everything. We can truly show the world how great God is by being strong in Him through our grief.

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

https://www.amazon.com/Lord-Teach-Us-Live-Lessons-ebook/dp/B084H1MM1L

https://www.amazon.com/Fresh-Fruit-Meditations-Holy-Spirit-ebook/dp/B07DN2DB7T


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