Honest With God: Finding Healing and Wholeness Through the PsalmsНамуна

Our phone rang early one morning.

I was a junior in high school and did not love being woken up early. I heard my dad, a pastor, answer the phone in the hallway. After hanging up, he put on his clothes and drove quickly out of the garage.

I slowly made my way into my parents' bedroom, where I found my mom crying softly. Her face fell when she saw me, and she invited me to sit on the edge of the bed. She put her arm around me and told me about the phone call. Jamin, one of my two best friends, had died. His parents discovered his body when his alarm went off.

Jamin had battled seizures, and this particular seizure had led to his death. At 17 years old, Jamin's whole life had been in front of him. With his music scholarship and gift for making anyone laugh, his death left a hole in his family, our youth group, and my life.

During his memorial service, the grief was thick and the pain was palpable. I wondered if his parents would ever get over this loss. I asked why my friend had to die so soon. We were desperate in those days for God's presence and comfort. When we grieved, we needed to know that we were not alone.

King David spoke an answer to the question beautifully: "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." (Psalm 34:18 NIV) God doesn't promise to fix our broken hearts immediately, but He promised to be close to them. He specializes in proximity to pain, in drawing near when life falls apart.

David knew this truth from experience. In Psalm 23, he writes, "Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me." (Psalm 23:4 NIV)

Notice, David doesn't say we won't experience dark valleys. A relationship with God doesn't immunize us from suffering. David says that even when he walks through suffering, God is with him. The valleys are real, the darkness is tangible, but the presence of the Shepherd transforms the experience of walking through them. If you're facing grief today, you don't have to walk that path alone. God is near you!

Remember, grief isn't something to be fixed or cured – it's something to be walked through with God as our companion. We don't "get over" losses quickly, despite the unkind words of people who wonder why we’re still struggling. The process of healing does not submit to a clock nor a calendar.

God's presence doesn't eliminate pain, but it indeed transforms our experience of walking through it. I encourage you today to remove any expectation that you should be "over this” by now. We serve a God who is patient and kind, who never leaves nor forsakes us. He's more patient with you than you are with yourself.

Tomorrow, you're going to learn that His patience doesn't only pertain to our pain.