03/10
Take Heart
"So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy....“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
John 16:22&33
John 16:22&33
Nothing in life can prepare us for the death of a loved one. Whether death results from a sudden accident or a sustained illness, it always catches us off-guard. Death is so deeply personal and stunningly final, nothing can emotionally prepare us for its arrival. With every death, there is a loss. And with every loss, there will be grief. Grief doesn’t come and go in an orderly, confined timeframe. Just when we think the pangs of anguish have stolen their last breath, another wave sweeps in and we are forced to revisit the memories, the pain, and the fear of loss. Sometimes you may try to resist the demands of grief and fight against the feelings which overwhelm you and other times you simply let the tears flow.
Do not allow an outside force to dictate to you when and how to grieve. Every experience is unique and needs to be treated as such. Culture tells us to move past this process quickly. Take a few days, weeks perhaps, to grieve, but don’t stay there too long. Grieving can make those around us uncomfortable. Friends sometimes don’t know what to do with our pain. Loved ones struggle to find adequate words to comfort our aching wounds. Yet grief, as painful a season as it is, is also a necessary part of our healing that needs to be recognized and given space to breathe. To run from grief is to run from the very thing that can quell the pain of our loss. Grieving can be the process God uses to bring us to a place of healing and wholeness where we reflect God even more clearly on the other side.
Give yourself space and time, be honest with your emotions, don't grieve alone, and don't lose hope. For we know that in this world we will have trials, trouble, and pain. But we can take heart because we know that our Savior has overcome all this world can throw at us, and we too can be overcomers when we hold tightly to the Prince of Peace.
Do not allow an outside force to dictate to you when and how to grieve. Every experience is unique and needs to be treated as such. Culture tells us to move past this process quickly. Take a few days, weeks perhaps, to grieve, but don’t stay there too long. Grieving can make those around us uncomfortable. Friends sometimes don’t know what to do with our pain. Loved ones struggle to find adequate words to comfort our aching wounds. Yet grief, as painful a season as it is, is also a necessary part of our healing that needs to be recognized and given space to breathe. To run from grief is to run from the very thing that can quell the pain of our loss. Grieving can be the process God uses to bring us to a place of healing and wholeness where we reflect God even more clearly on the other side.
Give yourself space and time, be honest with your emotions, don't grieve alone, and don't lose hope. For we know that in this world we will have trials, trouble, and pain. But we can take heart because we know that our Savior has overcome all this world can throw at us, and we too can be overcomers when we hold tightly to the Prince of Peace.
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
- How is your time of grief allowing you to see God’s hand in your life right now?
RESOURCE
We want to encourage you to listen to the podcast below which focuses on author Liz Newman after the loss of her father and how she navigated that season with God.