Have you grieved during your life? Was it for a loved one? Was it for a pet? How did you handle your grief? Was your grief overwhelming? Were you unable to function? Did hope have a positive impact on your grief? Do you know it could?
Grieving can be difficult. When we lose a parent, sibling, or child, it is often more difficult. In some cases, I have witnessed wailing and people falling to their knees, unable to walk due to their grief. But it does not have to be that way. For those in Christ, there is hope.
Each person grieves differently. Some grieve internally, not allowing others to see it outwardly. Some grieve outwardly, not worrying if others see them grieve. Some grieve for months or years. Some grieve for a few weeks and move on. In none of these types of grief does it mean the person grieving or over their grief has forgotten the lost loved one.
For those of us who are in Christ, there is hope. This is not a wishful thinking kind of hope, but a hope full of confidence that is promised in the gospel of Jesus Christ (Colossians 1:21-23). It is a hope in which we can glory (Hebrews 3:6). Our hope in Christ it our anchor (Hebrews 6:19-20). This hope tells us there is an eternal life in which we will live with all who are in Christ forever.
When we have hope in Christ and our loved ones are in Christ, we can confidently state we will see them again. We say our goodbye’s and see you later’s with peace in our hearts. We will still grieve, but it will not be the overwhelming grief that immobilizes us. Rather than grieving for the lost loved one, we grieve for the empty space in our lives, and we learn how to fill that hole, at least partially. We lean on God and the hope he provides. We accept the peace he grants us.
I pray we all know the hope promised in the gospel of Jesus. I pray we seek to convince others to accept the same hope. I pray each one of us will lean on God and the hope he provides in times of grieving. Put your hope in Jesus. Accept the hope He promised. Lean on God in times of grief. Know you have eternal life.
1 Thessalonians 4:13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.
Marty Pressey 