“Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.” Isaiah 53:4
Grief is one of the most painful emotions we will ever experience. Grief is our reaction to the loss of someone or something intensely.
A person tends to think he is alone in his grief!
- He thinks no one ever grieved or was as sad as he is!
- If you are a born again Christian, you have God with you every moment to comfort you!
- God promises He will never leave us, nor forsake us. (Hebrews 13:5)
Naturally, we worry about our own grief, and that of our families.
- But, do we ever think about how much we grieve the Holy Spirit? (Eph. 4:30)
There are all kinds of grief!
- We should never let grief turn into bitterness or doubt God’s love and compassion for us!
- We should never let grief hold us back from living a happy, productive life.
God didn’t promise us we’d never grief.
- Christians have an edge over lost people, because with the loving help and strength God gives us, we can overcome grief and transcend into new directions.
When grief comes, a Christian can trust in the Lord for understanding and strength. (Proverbs 3:5-6)
Any Christian who lives in the complete will of the Lord has the immediate strength and comfort from the Lord at His disposal!
- Christians should study the Scriptures, so they can call them to memory when they need just the right words of comfort to pass on to their neighbor.
Grief need not be our enemy.
- For without grief and sorrow we would never need to call on God!
Tears wash the eyes as nothing else can, and show us new views of humility, compassion, and priorities.
- Sorrow strips away superfluities and gets one down to the bone.
- Grief is an indispensable means of finding out what is important and what is not an indulgence. (Psalm 139:23-24)
To prolong grief is neurotic and against God’s will for our lives!
- Sometimes people do so because they think their grief is not acknowledged as it should be.
- Sorry is the last emotion we can feel about someone.
- It is a powerful one and to have it dismissed as unworthy or transient may seem like mockery.
- However, it is easy to fall into the trap of perpetuating it, either to impress the world with its importance or because letting it go means breaking the last tenuous thread.
There is a vast difference between grief and grievance.
- We need to keep them clear and far apart, or we shame the love we fancy we are honoring.
- To be “mad at” God or other people, to imagine we are singled out for trouble, or to cling tenaciously to sorrow and blot out everything else, is not true anguish at all.
- It is merely using grief as an occasion for indulging grievances.
- Many people confuse grief with self pity. (Psalm 56:3)
Our spirit is not made up of one emotion only, any more than the healthy body consists of only one function.
- After a period of concentration, the heart and mind reach out for equilibrium. (Psalm 71:12)
Grief is an acute stage of love…as legitimate in its time as rapture is in love’s beginning.
- No one knows what the causes of loss and sorrow may be, but we do know that a certain amount of grief is honorable and valuable and just.
- God is the only person who can deliver us out of our grief.
- Call on Him, He loves you and cares about your hurts. (Psalm 69:19)
Prayer
Dear God, please come to me quickly, for I am grief stricken! I need all the comfort and strength You alone can give me! Please forgive me for all my sins! I repent of all the things I have done which were wrong in Your eyes! I want to clean up my life! Forgive me for those I have slighted and offended. I thank You for allowing me to be born. I thank You for saving my soul! I thank You for loving me and for never forsaking me! I need You right now! Please come very close to me and let me sense Your presence. As long as I live I will praise You. I will never blame You for sickness, sorrow or death! I know that Your Son, Jesus, was born so that some day He could die on the cross to pay for my sins. I know that He was resurrected and lives today. I know that without Your love and forgiveness I would be lost forever. As much as is within me, I will serve You! I will praise You. I know that my grief can be overcome with Your loving help! I know that You will restore peace in me. I thank You for all Your blessings! In Jesus’ name, I pray. AMEN!
