Still His Son: Lost, Found, and Forever Changed by God’s Loveનમૂનો

Held Through Grief

When Jody sat across from me and told his story, there was a weight to his voice that only comes from loss. Over the years, he watched loved ones slip away to addiction—one after another. Six of them were soldiers he’d served with. Brothers in arms. Gone.

Grief didn’t hit Jody all at once. It crept in slowly—through guilt, through silence, through the lie that real men just keep going. So he did. He drank more. Worked harder. Told himself he was holding it all together because he was still providing for his family.

But everything was falling apart.

Eventually, Jody lost it all. The image, the job, the illusion of strength. But that’s when something surprising happened: he stopped hiding. He turned to God—not as a last resort, but as a lifeline. He found people who didn’t ask him to be strong but gave him space to be real. And somewhere in the rubble, Jody realized something he hadn’t felt in a long time:

He was still God’s son. Not because he’d earned it. Not because he’d handled his grief well.

But because the Father stays close to the brokenhearted who have placed their trust in Jesus. If you’ve accepted Christ, your pain doesn’t disqualify you. You are still His son, even when you’re too crushed to believe you belong.

Grief will try to rename you. It will whisper that you’re alone. That you should’ve been stronger. That your sadness makes you less than.

But God doesn’t see weakness. He sees His child—hurting, yes, but still His.

Even in the pain, the tears, the days you can’t get out of bed…
You’re not abandoned. You’re not disqualified.
You are still His son.

Reflection Questions:

1. What kind of grief have you been carrying quietly?
2. How would it feel to let God sit with you in it, instead of hiding it from Him?

Prayer:

Father, I’ve lost more than I know how to say. There are pieces of me I don’t know how to get back. But I believe You’re near. Remind me that my grief doesn’t make me less in Your eyes. That I’m still Yours. Even when I’m hurting. Especially then. In Jesus’ name, amen.