Bible, Discipleship

THE HARSH REALITIES OF LOSS AND GRIEF

Although we all dread the thought, at some point we will lose a loved one.

It might be due to old age and natural causes, with a full understanding that their time had come. It may be under very tragic circumstances, where a whole community is cast into turmoil over the event.

Regardless of the situation surrounding the loss, someone, somewhere, will be thrust into the pain and anguish of grief.

As Christians, grief can be a mental battle of sorts.

If our loved one knew Jesus Christ as their Saviour, our heads want to tell our hearts that we should be rejoicing; that they have reached glory, and they’re better off than we are. Theologically, that is true.

It just doesn’t work, does it. It’s not a switch you can flick on or off.

What if our loved one did not know and follow Christ?

As Believers, we generally take one of two approaches: First, (1) we might go through even deeper grief, knowing that our loved one’s rejection of Christ has led them into eternal anguish. This can bring our grief to an ever deeper debilitating emotional state.

On the other hand, (2) we may try to convince ourselves that maybe they accepted Christ right before they passed, and therefore made it into heaven. Many of our friends and family members typically help this process by stating things like, “only God can know what was in their heart.

The mental battle rages on within the Christian-mind.

The reality is that we have to leave it with God. The unknown is so painful, but we have to rest in Jesus; giving Him the big questions of what could have been, or maybe should have been.

Thankfully, we have a Saviour who was fully God and yet, fully man. Jesus also experienced the loss of a loved one. Furthermore, it caused Him deep sorrow which is explained in Scripture.

Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?” (Jn. 11:27-40)

If you’d like to study this passage, based around the account of Christ’s loss of a loved one, as well as my personal experiences with loss.

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What thoughts and emotions gripped you during your time of loss?

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