Articles
Dealing with Grief
How can, how can I get past the grief? Death brings grief like nothing else. Nothing brings as sharp a pain to the human spirit like death. I hate it and feel inept to help. I cannot do or say anything that will stop the pain.
When death comes, look to God. Don’t look to Him as the cause. Look to Him as the Comforter and Healer of the soul. He alone can turn the pain and sorrow into laughter and joy. He will not take away the pain, but He will comfort and enable us to overcome. He does not cause the pain. He does not want the pain. It is interesting to me when David’s child is sick leading to his death David’s sorrow is obvious. However, when the child dies he arises and says, “I cannot bring him back but I can go to him.” David was comforted by simply knowing he could be with his son one day.
Also, be watchful against allowing faith to weaken. Death is an enemy that strikes us at the core of our being. It challenges our faith. “If God loved …. why did He let this happen? How can I put my faith in a God that would let this happen?” Well, our faith is in a God that did not cause this. Our faith is in a God who has made fellowship and home with Him possible because He gave His son. He gave His son! Does that sound like a God who does not care? The fact He gave His son should tell us, profoundly, that God does not want us to hurt. Evil also exist in our world. Death, disease and suffering come as a result of sin. The innocent may not have sinned but sin brings hurt and pain. God offers His love to heal.
Further, do not give up on prayer. The power is not in my prayer. The power is in God who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, above all we can think or ask. We must guard against thinking, “Why pray? After all our prayers will not change what happens.”
“The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much!” If that is not true then God is a liar. He promises to hear (1 John 5:14-15). Does that mean the answer is always “Yes?” No. “If I prayed and prayed and my loved one still died, then why pray?” I don’t know how God answers prayer, but I do know prayer affects Him. When Abraham prayed, God changed His mind. When Moses prayed, God changed His mind. When Hannah prayed, God gave her a son. When Jesus prayed for deliverance, He still died. When Paul prayed that the thorn be removed, the thorn remained. So, does that mean He loved Abraham, Moses, and Hannah more than He loved His own Son or Paul? Does that mean He was cruel to His own Son and Paul? Did Paul stop praying? Paul did not say, “Well God has already determined what will happen to me. I will walk the path He has chosen for me. No need in praying.” No.
Prayer and faith go together. If Satan can crush my faith then he can also stop my praying. If he can stop my trusting in God, no matter what happened or how difficult, he can stop my praying. And when that happens, he wins. He simply uses the catastrophe that came in my life to be the means by which he will conquer me. If that is the death of a loved one, loss of a job, financial difficulties, marriage problems, or whatever, he wins! He got what he wanted, my soul. God shouts, “NO, NO, NO. Don’t look to him! Look to me, I will heal you! Talk to me! I want you!” One said, “When the days are the darkest, God’s grace shines the brightest.”
