Dealing with Grief

 

Brent Fountain | 2-28-24

 

 

I just want to spend a few moments talking about grief.  At some point all of us have dealt with it, at times it lingers with us depending on the depth of the loss, always just under the surface with emotional scars that cause us to feel empty or numb like you are in shock. Grief even causes some people to experience trembling, nausea, breathing difficulty, muscle weakness, loss of appetite or insomnia. Feelings of anger can also surface, even if there is nothing in particular to be angry about.

Almost everyone tortures themselves with guilt by asking what they did wrong, how they might have prevented the loss, or some other form of self-condemnation. In short, grief makes us feel like our emotions have gone haywire because, in many ways, they have. Over time, however, you will regain a measure of equilibrium, a sense of control.

 

God gave us the gift of pain so that we can react when something goes wrong.  When we experience a physical pain in our leg or knee, it might produce a limp, it slows us down,  and the limp protects us from further damage.  We also might say that our emotions can have a "limp" when we suffer a severe emotional loss. The severity of that "limp" often depends on the depth of the loss.

 

We've seen many who have suffered loss, and experienced deep emotional grief in the scriptures, Job, David, Naomi, Jacob, all of them suffering loss of a loved one, dealt with grief. You could see where things felt out of control for them, as we look at each of those circumstances we know Who was in control, Who remembered them and Who helped them.  We too, need to remember that God is in control even when things FEEL like they are out of control for us. God sees our grief and brings us comfort.

 

Ps 147:3: "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds."    

Revelation 21:4: "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away."

Psalm 46:1: “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.”

Psalm 119:50: “My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life.”

 

In times of grief, He is our rock, our strength and our refuge. Grief is a very big topic and it was not my intent to cover it in detail, just provide some reminders that we have loving brethren to help us cope and more importantly a God who is in control and listens to our hearts when they ache.