Garden of Grief

“The God of grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.” 1 Peter 5:10

 

There is nothing messier than the process of grief.  I’ve walked through it and will certainly have to visit that garden again.  Many of you may be walking the stones of the garden of grief as you are reading this.  The word grief itself triggers images of brokenness, tears, isolation, and hopelessness in my mind.  Grief is so unsettling… interruptive… unpredictable… devastating.   When I facilitated groups for our church one of the most powerful thoughts that I have never forgotten is that ‘Grief never stays put.’  

 

Jesus tells us that in this world we will suffer just as He did, but our verse offers hope, healing, and promise through God’s grace.  Through the process of grief, we can’t help but to become stronger even if we don’t want to.  While grief is the price we pay for love, grief can be a bully flexing its muscle at the most vulnerable times.  But God made us to survive grief through His healing touch and the process we must go through with His help.  ‘Part of what makes healing so hard is the deep ache left behind after the trauma.  Loss envelops us with an aching grief that comes in unpredictable waves.  It’s hard to know if you’re getting better when a string of good days suddenly gives way to an unexpected emotional crash.   You feel angrier than ever over the unfairness of it all.’ Seeing Beautiful Again, Lysa TerKeurst, p. 239.

 

But like anything in life, process matters and to bristle against healing prolongs the inevitable of working through it and finding new life.  Finding new life after grief is not an abandonment of the old, rather faith that God has a new plan for your life.  All of the out-of-control emotions are not signs of weakness, but proof that healing is occurring.  ‘They’re evidence you aren’t dead inside.  There’s life under the surface, p. 240.   Then one day we suddenly realize the future feels a little more hopeful.  ‘Not because circumstances have changed but because we have embraced reality, released control, and found this healed version of ourselves…Our God is a God of restoration.  And all that aching within you is proof there’s a beautiful remaking in process.  Don’t give up.  God loves you.  You are not alone.  Healing is possible’ p. 240-241.  There will be blooms again in the garden of grief if we just keep moving.