I once read that grief is like absorption. It occupies or fills us. Involves our full attention. Swallows up the identity. Soaks up; absorbs us.
I agree with those thoughts. Grief comes over us in waves. It can be like trying to stand in the ocean when there are hurricane force winds. The emotions just seem to overtake us and knock us completely down. At times, grief can consume us to the point of curling up in a fetal position and sobbing.
The waves of grief that knock us down can be met with the calming of the waters, blue skies and sunshine. We just have to look up to see them.
“When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.” - Psalm 94:19 (ESV)
Grief is inevitable. You and I will face grief and sadness. But we don’t have to stay stuck in our grief and sadness.
Joy is a gift. But it is also a choice. We can have the joy offered to us by our Papa, in spite of our circumstances; or we can remain in grief and deny ourselves His joy.
Jesus understands our grief. He, too, has wept over the death of loved ones. His Father understands our grief. He watched His Son willingly take on the weight of the entire world; carrying all of our sin, and suffered a horrific death.
While our grief is unique to us, it is not unique to God. This makes His ability to comfort us even greater. The enemy wants us to keep striking matches to try and burn down our painful memories, but God wants us to remember He makes beauty from ashes.
“Of one thing I am perfectly sure, God’s story never ends with ashes.” – Elisabeth Elliot
Grief is an enormous burden to carry. Which is why we are not meant to carry it, alone. “When the cares of my heart are many …” Papa’s consolations cheer our souls.
I was listening to Eric Clapton’s, “Tears in Heaven,” recently, and I began to think of all the people I know who have suffered miscarriages. The parents who had to bury a child. And I am again reminded how excruciatingly painful the death of a child is; or the loss of a friend, a parent, a sibling … there will be no more tears in heaven.
When we are in the midst of our grief and suffering, sometimes just the promise of God’s consolations are the exact medicine we need. Especially when we remember there will be no more tears in heaven.