“Letting Go…and Moving On”

Grieving is like moving through quicksand….slow…thick with emotions….exhausting.

Some days it takes over our heart and pulls us under… we can’t focus on anything else.

Whether we are grieving death, happier times, or  loss……we hang in suspension of time when we grieve.

As long as we remember what happened….recall it….relive it….we’re not going to release it any time soon.

I think we remind ourselves of the loss because we don’t want to move on.

We don’t want a new friend….

or a new daddy…..

or different set of conditions….

We want what we remember….. for as long as we can relive it.

God understands wanting to stay close to the pain…it keeps us close to what we lost…. but it can obscure where he wants to take us next.

The pain dims the future so much, we aren’t even looking for the new path.

How in the world can we even begin to heal if we open the wound every day?

 

                          

Just like temptation….Grief will stay where it’s welcome.

Scientist now have conclusive data confirming broken heart syndrome…..the actual physical condition of dying…because of a broken heart.

When our body goes through grief….the makeup of our vascular system shifts to not working as it was designed.

So everyday we grieve….we die a little more.

There are days I just want to go back to the way it was before and I have to make a determination to not dwell on the loss.

Dwelling on our pain will give Satan a stronghold in our lives.

He focuses on keeping our attention in the past, making us weak and inattentive to the future.

The disciples were brokenhearted when Jesus went away after the resurrection….they didn’t understand it.

“But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, “Where are you going?” But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.  Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you: but if I depart, I will send Him to you.”  John 16:5-7

We can relate to the disciples grief…..and its hard to understand how the separation or loss could be to our advantage?

One of the advantages Jesus was talking about has to do with our growth.

Loss forces us to turn to God…..our helper.

Loss catapults us to another level of our faith.

Loss makes us trust….trust in all we have heard and read about Heaven, Hope, Restoration and Jesus.

Has God allowed loss for this season of your life?

Are you brokenhearted longing for days past?

Take heart….He’s not punishing you, He’s not mad at you, He wants you to look to Him and He will show you something new.

He promises to turn your sorrow into Joy…..

“Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.  Therefore, you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.”  John 16:19-22

Can you imagine the disciples joy when Jesus was resurrected on the third day?

Their sorrow was turned into joy.

Allow yourself ample time to grieve….

Determine every day to allow a set time to think about your grief…….but as time passes in days, weeks and months…..

Resolve to make that time less everyday.

Work hard to find joy in some way, everyday.

And remember this……

“The Lord is close to those whose hearts have been broken. HE saves those whose spirits have been crushed.” Psalms 34:18

Lean into Jesus on the weak days…..for that my friends is truly our advantage.