The Length and Depth of Grief

And when the days of his weeping and deep grief were past. Genesis 50:4a Amplified Bible

In the past I have witnessed vast proportions of grief in the lives of dear friends. Loss of parents, loss of pregnancies, loss of children, loss of relationships, loss of jobs, loss of health. Their pain was profound and worked through in the privacy of their own thoughts and hearts. While friends and loved ones sought to comfort, they were still left with many hours of solitude. Some are still in the throws of their grief and loss wondering if they will ever experience life as “normal” again.

Sometimes the most difficult part of pain is our misunderstanding of all that it entails. Uncertainty of what our feelings should be and how long the whole thing will take, leave us floundering.

I found comfort in Joseph’s example today. Today’s verse followed a 70 day long mourning for the death of his father. 70 days! That is a little over 2 months. And I noticed it was simply the deep grief that was past. That is not to say the grief was entirely gone. After a life time of loving someone, years of being separated, and then the joys of being reunited, how could anyone think he would walk away from grief after a mere week or two? And yet I hear account after account of people who think it should be that easy and that quick.

Grief is a process and God accomplishes much through it. We learn a lot about ourselves and about Him during that time. The deeper the grief the more profound the lessons and the greater the possibility of future ministry that will stem from it. But it takes time! The loss of my mother in February of 2000 led me into a grief process that lasted a year. The grief from the loss of a mentor in the spring of 2006 took several years to subside. While both were extremely painful they yielded rich treasures from my Father’s hand.

Today I share Isaiah 51:3 with all those who are presently experiencing their own valley of grief. “The LORD will surely comfort Zion, and will look with compassion on all her ruins; He will make her deserts like Eden, her wastelands like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of singing.”

Father, I trust You to make the joy, gladness, thanksgiving, and singing as profound and deep as the grief has been. Embrace my friends! Amen.

Help Me, God - Kathy Troccoli
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-wL7KWO8Ys

Getting into God's Word and letting God's Word get into me one truth at a time.