How Christians Grieve WellНамуна

Religious Parts and Grief

Our religious parts revere God. They place his Word on a lofty pedestal. They carry an unshakeable devotion to keep us from trading God in for anything else. Loyal to teachings we learned in childhood, when these parts get a whiff of anything remotely disparaging to God, they are quick to defend him.

It makes sense for our religious parts to fight for God. But why would they fight us on grieving?

Because they loathe displeasing God or dishonoring the Bible. This explains why, to justify their position, Christians with strong religious parts often cite “we don’t grieve like people who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13) when they deem a fellow believer’s grief to be excessive or otherwise inappropriate.

The Bible does not ban grieving. On the contrary, God’s own Son pronounced a blessing on those who mourn (Matthew 5:4). God will wipe away every tear from our eyes. However, this blessed reality is reserved for a new heaven and earth, where “there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Revelation 21:4 NIV).

We are not there yet—and God knows it. His response to our earthbound existence, with its “many trials and sorrows” (John 16:33 NLT), is to collect our tears in his bottle (Psalm 56:8 NLT). Maybe this is why the apostle Paul did not instruct us to scold mourners, but rather to “weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15 NLT).

But let’s bring it home. How are you doing with grief? If grief’s emotional turmoil has so unnerved you to where you had to squelch your own grief, there is a better way. Petition the Lord for the grace to sustain your grief. And if there are mourners in your world, ask God to saturate you with his abundant compassion as you journey with them toward healing.