Grief
When Faced With Grief – A Walk of Faith
The most shattering experience that can happen to the human spirit is the death of a loved one. No words, no action, can deaden the overwhelming pain of bereavement.
But there are practical means with which it can be faced and lived through with strength and fortitude.
Don’t stop living. In due time, the knowledge that your loved one would want it that way will comfort you.
Don’t view death as a loss. Never say, I have lost my father, mother, wife, my husband, my child, my brother, or sister.
Remember the words of this poet, “Love can never lose its own.”
Your loved one is merely living in another dimension. He or she is never far away.
You have not lost your loved one.
Express yourself. When sorrow comes, give a normal expression to your grief.
Do not bottle it up and hold it in. God made tears for a purpose, and that was to relieve us. A tear is agony in solution.
Don’t be ashamed of your grief or try to repress it. Cry it out and pray it out. Peace will eventually come.
Think of where your loved one now lives. Your loved one is in our Father’s house of many mansions and is surrounded by love and beauty, and is well and strong and happy. Tell yourself that he or she is all right and content.
Find comfort in the promise of a reunion. Remember the old hymn, “In the sweet bye-and-bye, we shall meet on that beautiful shore.” Hold onto that as fact. God, who made it possible to meet here, also makes it possible for us to meet over there.
Ease others’ grief. Perhaps the best way to heal your own sorrow is to help someone heal theirs. When you give sympathy and love, they come back to you doubled. Make a list of all the sad people you know and try to bring comfort to them. By so doing, you will find amazing comfort and healing for yourself.
See the goodness. Nothing that God ever ordained is bad. Therefore, though it is painful, God’s goodness is nevertheless to be found in sorrow. His goodness is given to your loved one who has gone and it is given to you who remain.
Rely on your faith. Perhaps the greatest healing of sorrow is to be found in your faith. Repeat some of the great words of Jesus Christ.
He understands your sorrow. Use comforting Bible Scripture verses such as:
“I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die” —John 11:25-26
The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. —Psalm 9:9
For he has not despised or disdained the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help. —Psalm 22:24
Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. —Psalm 30:5
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit —Psalm 34:18
The salvation of the righteous comes from the LORD; he is their stronghold in time of trouble —Psalm 37:39
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea. —Psalm 46:1-2
Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall. —Psalm 55:22
Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter, you will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth you will again bring me up. You will increase my honor and comfort me once again. —Psalm 71:20-21
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. —Matthew 5:4
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. —John 14:27He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. —Revelation 21:4
In my distress I called to the Lord and he answered me. —Psalm 120:1
Safe In His Arms, Now and Forever
Psalm 23:4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil,
Psalm 116:15 Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.
John 10:27-29 “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.” (Jesus speaking)
Romans 8:38-39 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 14:8 For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.
Revelation 14:13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!”
Christian Quotes About Death
“They that love beyond the world cannot be separated by it. Death cannot kill what never dies.” ~ Williams Penn
”When the time comes for you to die, you need not be afraid, because death cannot separate you from God’s love.” ~ Charles H. Spurgeon
”It is better for me to die in behalf of Jesus Christ than to reign over all the ends of the earth.” ~ Ignatius of Antioch
“He whose head is in heaven need not fear to put his feet into the grave.” ~ Matthew Henry
“Has this world been so kind to you that you should leave with regret? There are better things ahead than any we leave behind.” ~ C.S. Lewis