Grief
Grief is such a mean emotion. It is the constant reminder that the joy that was once experienced is gone.It is the reminder that you will never hug a loved one this side of heaven, hear their laugh, or see their smile. It is the reminder that things will never be as they were.
Our community has once again come together with grieving hearts. Some of us are angry, some stoic,so many of us just weary of life, so many questions with no answers.“Trust in the Lord, He has a plan,” they say.“His ways are not our ways,” they quote.“When you. can’t trace His hand, trust His heart,” gets posted on social media.
Are these sayings true? Yes, God does have a plan and many times He does not do things the way we would choose. Many of us have learned that we can trust His heart even when we do not agree with His plan. However, all of these things can take time to digest and believe and sink into our souls when we are torn apart by tragedy. These truths are not platitudes to be thrown around when you do not know what else to say.
What about the moments, hours, days, and weeks when your life can see nothing but grief and your heart can feel nothing but pain? How do we get through this time and how do we walk with dear ones through this? How do we allow others the space to grieve while trusting that God is big enough to handle their grief?
These are just a few thoughts that may help us become like the friends of Job, who “ sat on the ground with him for seven days and nights. No one said a word to Job, for they saw that his
suffering was too great for words.” Job 11:13(NLT)
Have no expectations. Just as we are all unique, we all have unique ways of processing pain. Give others the grace and space to grieve.
2. Allow our friends to say things out of their pain that they may not really believe. God is bigger-we are not correcting their theology;we are listening and praying.
3. Over and over, the Bible tells us to mourn with those who mourn, weep with those who weep, to just be - not say, not fix, just be.
4. Lift those grieving up to the throne continually. Maybe you wake up in the middle of the night to pray for them so they can have a respite from their pain while they sleep.
5. Don’t watch them with eagle eyes. Let them exist and have the understanding they are not the same person. Grief changes each of us.
Above all, give grace, love well, and bring them to Jesus day and night.