I often wonder how anyone can go through grief and loss without the Lord.  As believers, we have the Comforter, who enters our lives doing things we don’t even realize to help us.  The comfort that comes from above and is within us can go into the depths that nothing else can touch.  For those who do not have the living God in them, the comfort they seek can soothe them only to a certain extent. They cannot find deeper solace.  Most often, what is sought is ways to escape, and so grief and loss are not dealt with. We may find ourselves vulnerable in times of grief and loss. In these moments, we might look for quick and easy coping mechanisms. These coping strategies may help us get through, for a time. But ultimately, we will be left worse off than before because we are not addressing our most urgent need. When the pain of loss comes to us, we want relief immediately. This is where we easily fall into the temptation to seek other things and people. We turn to them rather than God to go about it His way.  The Lord is big enough to take all that comes our way. He helps us walk through it in His Hands. Only when we determine to walk with Him will we learn and discover Him in a new (and exciting) way.  He will give us resurrection Life. It will breathe into the place of death we mourn. We will receive His heart in the matter. This is the only medicine that will heal us when we are willing to go with Him. 

There are many forms of loss and grief we encounter in life.  When we face loss, let us be careful in how we manage it.  We will seek immediate soothing of our carnal soul and mind. This will only leave us needing and wanting more, for it will not heal us.  Or, we will seek comfort from the Comforter Himself who will lead us to the Healer of hearts. 

As believers, there is no greater place of intimacy. It is achieved by seeking the Lord and identifying with the sufferings He also endured.  We should turn our grief to Him as an offering. It is an invitation to enter with Him. In this way, we may mourn as He mourned ….’that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings,’ Phil 3:10a.  This can only be achieved when we submit to the Holy Spirit. He takes us into a realm beyond ourselves. Thus, we may partake with Him in this way. 

For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. Heb 2:10