Power of Grief

Key Scripture:  "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit".  Ephesians 4:30

Power Point:

     Recently I went through an interesting test.  A friend of mine hurt another dear friend of mine.  I got mad.  I got VERY Touchy!  I knew it was wrong to react that way but the wound I saw in my friend sat on my chest like a hundred pound boulder.  My compassion was stirred to the ultimate.

And did I mention I got very touchy?

     Later that night, as I was going to bed, I told the Lord that I knew I needed to get rid of the anger and could He please help me. Before I had even gotten the words out of my mouth, I heard the word "GRIEVE".  I knew immediately what He was saying and it rocked my world. He was reminding me of Ephesians 4:30:

"Don’t grieve God. Don’t break His heart. His Holy Spirit, moving and breathing in you, is the most intimate part of your life, making you fit for Himself. Don’t take such a gift for granted."

When I heard that word, I knew that He was telling me that He was as grieved for my friend as I was.  He was sad. His heart was broken just as mine was.  It totally changed my perspective.

     Sometimes we think that as good Christians, we need to just get on with it and get over it. That can be difficult can't it?  Sometimes I think I need to try to make God realize the seriousness of the situation, as if He didn't know or didn't care.  I want to keep reminding Him!  When I heard the word "grieve" I knew that in fact He did care and that the compassion that I was feeling was no greater than what He was feeling. Because I know how good and how kind He is that made perfect sense to me, and it released all the anger, and all the resentment I had allowed to pile up in my heart.

    I knew that He would take care of it and He would heal the wound in my friend's heart.  I didn't need to worry about it.  I could let it drop and simply pray for both of my friends that God would love them into wholeness.

     I also understood that it is normal for me to grieve at wounds and injustice; to seek His understanding comfort and the comfort of His understanding.  I can allow Him to help me grieve as He does, without condemnation, and then rest in His ability to deal with the situation.

     God is always grieved at those things that wound us.  His compassion was the motivation for Jesus to do all the miracles that He did.  If His heart can be broken, then certainly He understands when our hearts are broken. He is compassionate about our compassion.  In fact, He encourages it. However, Godly compassion always has a way of sorting things out and making them right.  In fact, that's one of His names, "The One who will make things Right." He does not grieve without hope for the future. He never stays stuck in grief.

      When you are wounded God is grieved.  When we see others wounded, God is grieved.

When we wound others, it breaks His heart. And when we stay "stuck" in grief, we wound His compassionate heart full of hope for us. Aren't we blessed to have His own Holy Spirit in us to bring the comfort and the healing we need?  That's why Jesus took our griefs on the cross.   He knows how much they hurt and He wanted us to not grieve as those who have no hope. His compassionate presence in our lives is meant to give us hope.

Power Declaration:

I am so grateful to know that God is the God of all comfort and that He understands my grief. I am releasing that comfort to myself today and then to others.  I will not be easily offended and I will not add up the wrongs that other people do.  I will comfort myself with the Truth that He is sad too but that He will make everything right.  I can trust Him for that.  And I will. Jesus died to give me hope, and I intend to take it.

Copyright © 2015, Suzanne Roberts, Unpublished Work