Most Folks We Know Have Had Good Reason to Grieve, BUT Don’t Know How to Mourn.

Ever Been Deeply Saddened Experiencing Grief and Hurt?

Most have and others will, if they haven’t already.

Now I am not trying to be a cry baby or get you to be one, but I got a stark reminder of the pain of life while watching a WW 2 documentary. The opening captions warned of graphic content, and they were right. The closest I ever came to the great grief of war was losing a friend in a helicopter crash as he served in the Marines during the Vietnam war. But as I watched and became enmeshed in the scenes and sounds of death and destruction in land, air, and sea battles my heart broke over the estimated 55 million civilian and 25 million military casualties. What a tragic era in world history.

Many of you who read this article have not seen that kind of tragedy, but I have lived long enough to know that sorrow comes from many corners of our life…not just wars. Some of you have lost loved ones and their passing has changed your life; many of us are still grieving over the losses. Others of us have suffered or are suffering the impact of physical illness or injury. This pain can be equally life altering, can’t it? Still others are hurting from a relationship gone bad, unexpected abandonment, or betrayal from a source we’d never dreamed it coming.

You may have dealt with the loss and pain courageously and wisely. You may have moved on to a healthier, happier place in life. I hope you have. Some of us, and that includes me, didn’t know well how to grieve the pain of loss. We carried it or tried to ignore it, outrun it, drown in or simply forget it.

May I make a suggestion?

Would you consider these ideas from life and scripture to help you or someone you know begin the healing process when pain, hurt, disappointment simply won’t go away?

1. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 reveals that God our heavenly Father is the source of all comfort. In fact, He sent His Spirit to be our comforter so we’d never be far away from the comfort we need.
2. Jesus said in Matthew 5:4 – “Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted.” When you and I are hurt and sadness looms large in our heart, why not take Jesus up on His offer to mourn?
3. Our loss and pain unhealed can make us feel alone or abandoned. Yes, we have experienced real loss and real pain, but we can experience real closeness to the God who loves us, sent Jesus to open a path to healing, and then give us His Holy Spirit to live in our life. When we feel abandoned or alone, those of us who have a relationship with God through faith in His Son Jesus have immediate access to God’s comforting presence, His promises, His Spirit to let us know we are not alone in our suffering any longer…or we don’t have to be.

I find these 3 principles connected to my faith in Jesus Christ continue to be my way of dealing and begin healing my losses. Jesus said that in this life we’d have trouble and pain, but we could still be of good cheer because He has overcome our aloneness and gives us Himself to be with us and never leave or forsake us.

Watching all the carnage in that WW2 documentary was sobering to realize that I have not had to face that kind of threat or loss, but in any situation He offers real comfort from His real loving presence. Let’s take advantage of this privilege we have and not go through life alone even if other people have left us in pain.