God does not give us overcoming life -
He gives us life as we overcome.
(Utmost for His Highest, August 2, 2019)
This same principle is true of joy and grieving.
He gives us joy as we mourn - with Him. Ask anyone who has or knows someone who has desperately grieved. The grief spiral can go two ways - upward toward hope — or downward to despair.
To grieve with hope: this is not only our goal, but our call - our vocation - as Christians.
To grieve with hope is not to gloss over our loss,
it is not to band-aid our wounded heart with a platitude
like, “they’re in a better place,”
“God needed them more than I did,”
those phrases inflict more harm to our exposed heart
than offer healing.
To grieve with hope is to cry out with courage -
you know God is there and you need him right now
to pick you up,
to sit with you,
to sing over you
to be the strength in your feeble arms and weak knees.
…and when you ask — you will find Him in that moment.
…and when He comes to you in that moment -
you will know: you have encountered HOPE himself.
as you cried, Hope held your tears -
cherishing them, as you cherished the memories of
your beloved and mourned your life that was and will not be.
as you raged, Hope held the pillow you yelled into -
knowing grief is angry, too.
as your shoulders slumped from the weight of your grief;
your expectations,
your shoulds,
your coulda-done-it-betters,
your dreams dashed,
your identity slowly leaking air like an old helium balloon…
Hope offers a hand to carry some of that for you -
sitting with you, and holding each like a precious gem,
inviting you to ‘tell me a story of the time…’
so, you sit.
You hold the object in your hand, and you begin.
Light returns to your eyes as you recall
the delight,
the love,
the joy.
You smile a real smile again
and laugh with your heart.
The place where a rock had been is now
lighter - both in terms of weight and brightness.
Hope is now holding the object and gently looks into your eyes,
“Do you mind if I carry this for awhile?”
as you slowly mull it over, He abides
then offers, “I will give you a piece of my heart
to fill that space.”
…you realize that was the light you felt…
and you nod.
You reach out for an embrace, and
those cares - those burdens — they are melting.
In His light, you are light.
