GRIEF
Grief is the pits!
If I known it was going to be this painful to lose my husband, I would have divorced him a long time ago. (Just a joke -- a little widow's humor)
I wish grief was something that could be healed, but the truth of the matter is that grief is a healing process that we must go through in order to adapt to the "new normal" we find ourselves in. All change is grieved, even if it's for the good because we're leaving something behind for something new. Some changes are more painful than others.
The other day, after I had spent the morning crying, and announced to the universe, "Grief is the pits," I remembered the Old Testament Story of Joseph, you know the kid with the many-colored coat. Now there was a guy who knew what life in the pits was all about.
In a fit of sibling jealousy, Joseph's brothers threw him in a dried up well, a deep pit, and then faked his death. After a long and probably frightening night, his brothers haul him up and sell him to slavers from Egypt. In Egypt, he becomes a house slave in the home of a rich and powerful man. The man's wife tries to seduce Joseph. When Joseph refuses her advances, she accuses him of rape, and Joseph ends up in prison. Joseph's life up to that point was the pits!
Sometimes, we find ourselves in painful circumstances that we never intended to be in. Because of the randomness of suffering in this unredeemed, broken world we live it, stuff just happens, whether we deserve it or not.
So, when we find ourselves in those places and stages of our lives, where is the hope?
Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
9 If I take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 Even there Your hand shall lead me,
And Your right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,”
Even the night shall be light about me;
12 Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You,
But the night shines as the day;
The darkness and the light are both alike to You.
Psalm 139:7-12 (NKJ)
No matter where we're at in our lives, emotionally, spiritually or physically, God is there with us.
I believe that God was in the pit with Joseph. God stood by Joseph as his brother's haggled with the slavers and was beside him at the slave market in Egypt. God held him in God's hands when he was falsely accused and thrown into heaven. God never left his side.
And know, that God is present with me in the midst of my grief, sustaining me. It doesn't mean that I still don't have to grieve. I need to, I need to sit with my grief in order to enter into the new future God has prepared for me.
God's sustaining grace is the love that helps us carry the grief and pain. God gives us His strength to us in our weakness and brings comfort and assurance into the pits of life.
If I known it was going to be this painful to lose my husband, I would have divorced him a long time ago. (Just a joke -- a little widow's humor)
I wish grief was something that could be healed, but the truth of the matter is that grief is a healing process that we must go through in order to adapt to the "new normal" we find ourselves in. All change is grieved, even if it's for the good because we're leaving something behind for something new. Some changes are more painful than others.
The other day, after I had spent the morning crying, and announced to the universe, "Grief is the pits," I remembered the Old Testament Story of Joseph, you know the kid with the many-colored coat. Now there was a guy who knew what life in the pits was all about.
In a fit of sibling jealousy, Joseph's brothers threw him in a dried up well, a deep pit, and then faked his death. After a long and probably frightening night, his brothers haul him up and sell him to slavers from Egypt. In Egypt, he becomes a house slave in the home of a rich and powerful man. The man's wife tries to seduce Joseph. When Joseph refuses her advances, she accuses him of rape, and Joseph ends up in prison. Joseph's life up to that point was the pits!
Sometimes, we find ourselves in painful circumstances that we never intended to be in. Because of the randomness of suffering in this unredeemed, broken world we live it, stuff just happens, whether we deserve it or not.
So, when we find ourselves in those places and stages of our lives, where is the hope?
Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
9 If I take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 Even there Your hand shall lead me,
And Your right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,”
Even the night shall be light about me;
12 Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You,
But the night shines as the day;
The darkness and the light are both alike to You.
Psalm 139:7-12 (NKJ)
No matter where we're at in our lives, emotionally, spiritually or physically, God is there with us.
I believe that God was in the pit with Joseph. God stood by Joseph as his brother's haggled with the slavers and was beside him at the slave market in Egypt. God held him in God's hands when he was falsely accused and thrown into heaven. God never left his side.
And know, that God is present with me in the midst of my grief, sustaining me. It doesn't mean that I still don't have to grieve. I need to, I need to sit with my grief in order to enter into the new future God has prepared for me.
God's sustaining grace is the love that helps us carry the grief and pain. God gives us His strength to us in our weakness and brings comfort and assurance into the pits of life.
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