GRIEF! GRIEF!!
GRIEF! GRIEF!!
(Dedicating this to all the wonderful people out there- struggling with the loss of loved ones, in these trying times. And in memory of my late sister Patience )
(1 Thessalonians 4:13-: We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, concerning those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who have no hope.)
# Grief, if you must, but grief with hope.
# Grief, I think you should, for grief, is your God, given emotion.
# Grief is your God-given right to express your pain, and the departure of a loved one.
# Grief, is you, saying, I miss them
# Grief, is you, saying I do not understand why, they had to leave now, but I will find the will and strength to cope with their absence until we meet to part no more.
# Followers of Christ grief with hope and in a healthy way.
And you my friend can grief, with hope too
# Do not let anyone deny you the privilege of celebrating the departure of your loved ones, by telling you not to grief.
# When the clouds is heavy it pours out rain.
# When the heart is heavy it pours out tears
# First, we must get rid of this religious notion that a Christian is not supposed to grief when he or she loses a loved one, since they know that their loved ones are in - Heaven with Lord
# The Scripture did not say, don't grieve
# The Scripture says, to grief, with hope, the scripture did not say we should not grief at all.
It is not unbelief to grief
It is not a lack of faith when you grief
# Grief is not a sign of unbelief but an outward expression of your love and devotion to your loved ones
# When you grief, try not to grief in hopelessness and despair
# To tell you not to grief, at all is to deny you the opportunity to express your emotions in a healthy way.
# Years ago a pastor mocked me for crying over the loss of a loved one, I felt guilty about crying until the Lord, asked to read the above text again.
# Yes, you can grief, the loss of a loved one
# Yes, you should grief, the loss of a loved one
# You grief, not because you do not know where they are going, you, grief because you're going to miss their physical presence and the sweet fellowship you once shared
# You grief, because of the vacuum created by the temporal separation caused by their exits
# You grief, because even though, you know, that you are going to see them, again, but in the hear and now, how do you deal with or cope with the thought of not seeing them again until that resurrection morning -
# Then we grief, some more with hope. Healthy grief, helps us to cope with their absence
# ( WE DON’T GET OVER LOVED ONES WE LEARN TO COPE WITH THEIR ABSENCE)
# Just like you cry when saying goodbyes to a loved one when they have to go away for a month or two. You know, where they are going, you know, you will see them again, but the temporal separation still makes you cry.
# You know, where they going, but their temporal separation is why you and I cry.
# Death of our loved ones in Christ is just but a temporal separation
# My Brother, my sister cry if you have to, but cry with hope
# Be angry if you have to, but be angry in hope
# Ask why, if you have to, but ask why with hope
# Be sad, if you have to, but be sad and still be hopeful
# In your frustration and anger, do not forsake hope
# In your fears and doubts, do not forsake hope
# Grief, you must but grief, with hope
# To heal you must allow yourself to grief
# To laugh you must allow yourself to cry
# To recover you must acknowledge your loss
# You must never be ashamed to cry
# Crying is not a sign of weakness,
# Crying is all the heart can do when there are no words to express the depth of our emotions
(John 11:35-: Jesus wept.)
# Remember there is no timetable for grief.
Grief isn't a train which you catch
At the station
# Grief has its own time, and grief's time is beyond time,
And time itself, is not very important.
# We can not set up a time table for grief
# No one can mechanically program themselves like a well oil machine when it comes to the matter of the emotions - especially as it relates to grief, or grieving
# We can not compartmentalize our emotions into little neat boxes. No it's not possible, for you're an emotional being and not a robot
# It is wrong for people to expect you to grief in an orderly fashion
Grief does not work like a well oil machine
# When grief is involved, time becomes a circle, grief time goes round and round like a wheel
# The wheels of grief start and stop at its own, will- we can not control the circle and wheels of grief
# We must learn to submit to the circles and the wheels of grief, and not fight it.
# That is why we hear echoes of the past continuously
# That is why we miss them now and again
# That is why we are happy today and sad tomorrow
# When you lose someone dear to your heart, the sweet memories of the past has a funny way of sneaking into the present - every now and again
# You don't have to look back in time to miss your loved ones
# You just look across the circle, and the wheels of times, and there you will find them
# In those Sweet memories, as we grieve, with hope.
We find echoes of the past and the vision of the future all interwoven and intertwined in the circles and wheels of time together. And they're all present, all now, all forever
# Finally we all must learn not be mesirable comforters to our grieving friends
# We must learn to give the gift of silence, to our grieving friends, like Job's friends.
# We should also be ready to give our wordless and tender gift of silence presence. To the mourning and sorrowful heart when the opportunity presents itself
# We may not understand someone’s grief, but we don’t need to understand in order to love them well by simply being there for them and with them.
( And Even This Shall End In Praise)
John Oche Omale
God Bless