In light of the recent flooding tragedy and loss of young life in Texas, and even now as our hearts are still aching, I thought I would very brief address grief.
First, we must engage the grief. The sense of loss be is great or small must be “felt”. The Lord knows our frame and knows how much grief we can handle, but nevertheless running from in, denying it, or refusing to deal with it not only “hurt” ourselves, it also “hurts” all around us. We start to shut down our emotions and, in essence, become inauthentic because we are not being real with ourselves, let alone others.
The Word says, “Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope” (1 Thes. 4:13 NIV84). Notice it does not say: “Do not grieve.” But it does say, “grieve with hope.” Too many times Believers think that if they grieve—have any intense emotional response to a loss, that they are not “good” Christians, but this isn’t so. Our Lord Jesus grieved on several occasions: (1) at Lazarus’s’ tomb (John 11:35); (2) on the Road into Jerusalem (Luke 19:41 ); (3) in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matt 26:36-42) just to capture three moments. It is okay to grieve, but with HOPE!
In traveling through the various loops of the Grief process, we become more empathetic, (Heb. 4:15) we become more genuine (2 Cor. 1:12), and, frankly, we become more like Jesus (Isa. 53:3). In short, not going through the grief process is not only being disingenuous, it is also failing to be more like Jesus.
And if I know you all well enough: You do sincerely want to be more like Lord Jesus. Let us journey together through our grief as we help carry each other’s crosses.
Shalom,
Pastor Mike