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WHY DO WE EXPERIENCE THINGS THAT CAUSE US TO GRIEVE?
Everyone is familiar with feelings of
grief. These feelings range from mild, momentary unhappiness to
feelings of intense and acute emotional suffering that take a
long time to heal. These feelings can be caused by
disappointment, discouragement, frustration, trouble,
difficulty, a sense of futility, deep regret or some specific
loss, disaster, misfortune, accident, or mishap.
Grief is characterized by symptoms such as
low spirits, feelings of unhappiness, discouragement, anger,
brooding despondency, depression, and intense emotional anguish.
Grief affects us in many different ways:
Physically:
My heart is blighted and withered like
grass; I forget to eat my food. Because of my loud groaning
I am reduced to skin and bones.
Psalm 102:4-5 NIV
Mentally:
“I have no peace, no quietness; I have
no rest, but only turmoil."
Job 3:26
Emotionally:
Why do you always forget us? Why do you
forsake us so long? Lamentations 5:20 NIV
Why do you hide your face and consider
me your enemy?
Job 13:24 NIV
Spiritually:
My soul is in anguish. How long, O
LORD, how long?
Psalm 6:3 NIV
My God, my God, why have you forsaken
me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words
of my groaning? O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not
answer, by night, and am not silent. Psalm 22:1-2 NIV
Mourning is the expression of grief. It is
the process in which we try to make sense of our pain and
suffering and reconcile our past experiences, knowledge, faith
and beliefs with what we’re experiencing. It is looking for
hope where there doesn’t appear to be any. It is the struggle
to regain a sense of well-being after having our world, our
lives, our minds and hearts have been turned upside down and
inside out.
On this site we emphasize the spiritual
aspect of mourning, believing that if we can reconcile our
experiences of pain and sorrow, grief and mourning with our
Creator and Savior’s loving nature and purposes for our lives,
that will bring healing and restoration to our whole
person-body, soul and mind.
Why do we experience suffering and loss and
death and all kinds of other hurtful things that cause us to
grieve?
The most basic explanation is that God
never intended for us to experience suffering or death. That
may be why we react to them the way we do.
Disobedience and nonconformity to God’s
perfect standards introduced these painful things into the
perfect world God made and the blessed lives He envisioned for
us.
GOD said to the Woman, "What is this
that you've done?"
"The serpent seduced me," she said,
"and I ate."
GOD told the serpent: "Because you've
done this, you're cursed, cursed beyond all cattle and wild
animals, Cursed to slink on your belly and eat dirt all your
life. I'm declaring war between you and the Woman, between
your offspring and hers. He'll wound your head, you'll wound
his heel."
He told the Woman: "I'll multiply your
pains in childbirth; you'll give birth to your babies in
pain. You'll want to please your husband, but he'll lord it
over you."
He told the Man: "Because you listened
to your wife and ate from the tree That I commanded you not
to eat from, 'Don't eat from this tree,' The very ground is
cursed because of you; getting food from the ground Will be
as painful as having babies is for your wife; you'll be
working in pain all your life long. The ground will sprout
thorns and weeds, you'll get your food the hard way,
Planting and tilling and harvesting, sweating in the fields
from dawn to dusk, Until you return to that ground yourself,
dead and buried; you started out as dirt, you'll end up
dirt." Genesis 3:13-19 MSG
How do we cope with events and experiences
that bring on the unpleasant, painful, sometimes debilitating
emotions of grief?
We begin by simply trusting God’s good name
and holy character, that His intentions for us are always good.
The LORD is good to all; he has
compassion on all he has made.
Psalm 145:9 NIV
Though he brings grief, he also shows
compassion according to the greatness of his unfailing love.
For he does not enjoy hurting people or causing them sorrow.
Lamentations 3:32-33 NLT
You intended to harm me, but God
intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done,
the saving of many lives. Genesis 50:20 NIV
We know that God is always at work for
the good of everyone who loves him. They are ones God has
chosen for his purpose,
Romans 8:28 CEV
Then we cling to God’s promise that one day
He will release us from pain and suffering when He restores us
and the rest of His creation to His original design and purpose.
Against its will, everything on earth
was subjected to God's curse. All creation anticipates the
day when it will join God's children in glorious freedom
from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been
groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the
present time. And even we Christians, although we have the
Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, also
groan to be released from pain and suffering. We, too, wait
anxiously for that day when God will give us our full rights
as his children, including the new bodies he has promised
us. Romans 8:20-23 NLT
Remember your promise to me, for it is
my only hope. Your promise revives me; it comforts me in all
my troubles.
Psalm 119:49-50 NLT
For your encouragement,
Sharon Young
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Sharon Young
http://www.amourningdevotional.com
Mourning Glory – A Devotional for
Grieving is a book for helping
those
struggling through a loss and looking for support and
comfort.
Sharon is a dedicated mom and wife with a
deep desire to discover who God is, what He's like and
how to navigate this life guided by His truth. |
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