“Sorrow is better than laughter, for sadness has a refining influence on us.”, Ecclesiastes 7:3, NLT
GRIEF SERVES A PURPOSE IN OUR LIVES
Yes. Grief has a purpose–and it is NOT to leave you hopeless!
- It allows you to evaluate who and what is important in our lives. Once we do this, a restructuring of priorities typically takes place
- It teaches us how to draw near to God and experience His comfort and peace in ways that are not needed during less difficult or painful seasons
- It can open our hearts and minds to things we may have never considered before:
- Advocacy and Awareness–if your loss was due to violence, disease, or something that can be changed
- Grief Support field–if you either needed support that wasn’t there, or had excellent support and have a desire to help others in the same way
- New careers or goals–even friendships forged through the fires of loss
Grief is God Designed
God approves of us embracing the pain of loss, just as much as He approves our embracing the joys of abundance. They are both part of the human experience. You cannot live life and not walk through seasons of grief as well as seasons of abundance.
Tweet ThisGod wants you to use your time in grief to connect with Him and gain an understanding of who He is. He did not bring the loss upon you, but He will be your source of strength throughout. He provides comfort, peace, healing, and hope for you as you walk through the valley of grief.
Dear God, Help me submit to the purpose of Grief. Let it refine me, my purpose for living, and my view of who I am and how I fit into your great plan. Help me to embrace everything about my loss and lay all of my own hopes, dreams, and plans at your feet. Help me walk this season the way you want me to walk it–with an open heart and a yielded spirit. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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This post is part of a 31 day series on Hope for Grieving Hearts. To see all of the posts in this series, click the button below. Thank you for reading. I hope you are blessed and encouraged.
I’ve never thought of grief this way before, Tammy. I would add that when we experience life changes that don’t include death, we may still need to go through the grief process. Oddly enough, I found I needed to grieve the loss of life as I knew it when my husband recovered from cancer–because our life had changed quite a bit during his illness. Once I gave myself permission to grieve, I started to recover.
Yes! Most people associate grief only with death… but we must grieve all of our losses (unless its something we are happy to let go of). I’m so happy that the lord brought you to a place to recognize your need to grieve what life used to be, so you could move forward with the new.
You really do know this stuff.
Hi from #write31days. This is so hard to keep in mind when in the middle of grief but so true in retrospect. I think in grief we come to the end of ourselves and look up to find Jesus loving us in ways we didn’t notice before. When we are able to hold tight to Jesus our faith grows and our loss is not in vain.
My hope is that something I write helps others see Jesus loving on them long before they get to the end of their grief. I know it is difficult, but I also know it is possible. Thanks for dropping by Rebecca,