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When we think of grief, we automatically think of sadness over a physical death. Grief can also include deep sadness over a death or loss of someone’s commitment, trust, or sacredness of a relationship. I wonder how many people I pass by each day who are grieving in their heart. Grieving over what has been lost in their lives that they never thought they would lose. I think Lamentations 3 can sum up our feelings of loss very well:
The thought of my suffering and wandering is bitter beyond words. I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss.
How do we move past these bitter feelings that we can’t even put into words? How do we continue to put one foot in front of the other, and keep going strong? The answer is in the verses that continue:
Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this:
The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.
I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!”
The Lord is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him. So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord.
How do we move forward? We still dare to hope in the faithful love of the Lord! We remember and reflect and receive all His new mercies to us each new day. We look to Him, not just at our grief. We talk to ourselves. We tell ourselves: “I will not get stuck in this. The Lord is the most important thing in my life – way more important than anything I’ve lost. I will hope in Him!” We know He will be good to us as we continue to depend on Him and search for Him in the midst of our trials.
Sometimes we grieve because of a wrong done to us. Sometimes we are just going about our business, doing everything right we know to do, and wham! We are hit blindsided by something we never deserved to experience. I feel like the Bible really gets us on this:
My enemies, whom I have never harmed, hunted me down like a bird.
They threw me into a pit and dropped stones on me.
The water rose over my head, and I cried out, “This is the end!”
I know I have been thrown into a pit that I never even knew could exist. In the darkness of the pit, we feel like we have the weight of the world on us and like we are drowning in our sorrow. We can’t see ourselves out of the pit and it can feel like we will never see the light again. What do we do when other’s actions put us into a pit of sorrow? We call on the name of the Lord! We call on it, and we call on it again!
But I called on your name, Lord, from deep within the pit. You heard me when I cried, “Listen to my pleading! Hear my cry for help!”
Yes, you came when I called; you told me, “Do not fear.”
When we call for Him, He will come to our rescue. He is faithful to us and hears us when we cry for His help. He is such a sweet Father. He comes to us and whispers to us, “Do not fear.” He lets us know that He will help us as we put our trust in Him.
Father God, my tears flow endlessly; they will not stop. I need You to see my tears and see how my heart is breaking. I need Your healing salve to nurture my heart to make it even better than it was before my loss. I dare to hope in Your Love in the middle of my grief. I choose to see Your new mercies toward me every day. I need You and I will continue to search for You no matter what is happening around me. Thank You for hearing my cries for help. I am comforted knowing that I don’t have to be afraid because You are right here to help me come out of this dark pit I was thrown into.