
Two months ago, my father died. Having already lost my husband in a car crash, I was broken for a second time by grief in the last two years.
We lost him kind of suddenly, meaning we only had a day or two to absorb the knowledge that he would probably die very soon.
Losing my dad wasn’t really shocking to me…
It’s kind of just the natural order of things….
Children burying parents is terribly sad, but also terribly, and awfully,
Normal.
So, it wasn’t the loss of my dad itself that punched me in the proverbial gut….
It was the ADDED loss….
It was losing the two most important and influential men in my life within two years.
Thankfully, though, I have some very useful experience with grief.
What I mean is….
I knew where to go.
And I’d like to show YOU where you can go too, when your heart is broken by loss, illness, or just plain old sorrow.
Let’s just jump right in!!
“God is not a man, that He should lie,
Nor a son of man, that He should repent.
Has He said, and will He not do?
Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?”
Numbers 23:19
God is not a liar!
In fact, everything that happens to Jesus on that cross in the four Gospels was predicted in the Old Testament book of Isaiah, CENTURIES earlier!
And the book of Luke says, “For no word from God will ever fail.”
So, He means what He says, and He DOES what He says!
What all of this means for the griever, is that every promise that He makes to those qualified for it,
HE.
WILL.
KEEP.
We really can count on Him, because
He does not lie!!
20 If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
1 John 3:20
Wow, this verse!!!
Let me just say that it is absolutely legitimate to be a mature believer, and still struggle with your emotions. It is acceptable to be undone by pain and STILL have an unshakable faith in Jesus!
Just read the words of the psalmist David in Psalm 88, if you’re still not sure.
Having faith doesn’t ever mean that you don’t have any burning questions. Having faith means you know where to take them.
This verse in 1 John addresses our fickle hearts just as they are.
I’ll be very honest and tell you that weddings and other people’s anniversaries are really difficult for me.
It’s really painful for me to see the joy in others’ anniversaries, ever-increasing in numbers….
Especially when ours is frozen at a frail eleven.
It HURTS.
Just like birthdays, Christmases, etc….
What makes all of this worse is when you begin to judge yourself too harshly…
When you begin to ask yourself, “What is WRONG with me? Am I even a Christian??”
Feelings aren’t always spiritual deficits, but sometimes that’s a very difficult truth to grasp.
We need PERMISSION and GRACE to
FEEL.
And the Word gives us that!
This scripture reminds me that feelings are fleeting, but God knows my SOUL. He KNOWS me better than I do.
And boy, is that a comfort!
If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!
Matthew 7:11
Yes. We are all evil at our very core, as per Genesis chapter 3.
But we have our moments when we love deeply, and we often love others WELL.
But since the Word says that God IS love,
He must be way better at it than any of us are!
So, if that’s true, and we know it is( go read the first part again!đ¤Ł), then He only and always wants the very best for each of us.
And for reasons you may never fully know right now, your future doesn’t look the way you thought it should.
But Psalm 84:11 says,”No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.”
No.
Good.
Thing.
Only the good stuff is on its way! Now, the good things God promises are not WORLDLY good things.
They are peace, wisdom, truth, endurance, faith, gentleness, humility, etc…
The stuff that MATTERS!!!
The older you get, the more valuable all of those things truly are.
Here’s one more major truth to safely slip in your pocket:
God may not have CAUSED this,
But…
HE WILL USE THIS!
11 If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?Â
Luke 11:11,12
The VERY BEST fathers do their VERY BEST to give their kids the VERY BEST.
And God is no different!
We really can trust Him to give us what is
Good.
These scriptures really just scratch the surface of all the treasured promises His Word holds for those with a broken heart.
And here’s the thing:
Most of us don’t have the choice of whether or not we suffer.
But ALL of us have the choice of whether or not we will
Suffer
WELL.