Good morning!
Is it OK to grieve when we are Christians? Would God approve of our grieving the loss of loved ones, though we believe that those who die in the Lord will go home to be with God in heaven?
And does God grieve?
To weep, to mourn, is human. And God has made us in His image, therefore mourning and sadness is also a divine characteristic.
The Bible tells us that Christ grieved. He experienced the same deep sorrow that humans experience at the loss of a loved one, despite knowing his loved one was home with God in heaven.
In John 11, Jesus encounters his friends, Mary and Martha, greving for their brother, Lazarus, who had been “in the tomb for four days.” Martha met him just outside the village and scolded him for not coming sooner to heal him while he was gravely ill.
John 11 goes on, “Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there.
“When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’
“When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, ‘Where have you laid him?’ They said to him, ‘Lord, come and see.’
“Jesus began to weep.”
Sometimes Christians believe they have to put on a false front—a show of being happy or at least being content because Christians have to be happy all the time, right? They hide their true feelings because somewhere along the line they heard that to grieve the loss of a loved one is to fail to accept God’s Will. The Lord gives life and the Lord takes life away. They mistakenly believe that to be sad is to lack faith in the promises of God.
Yet Ecclesiastes reassures us that there is time for joy and a time for weeping. This means that we are expected to weep—there is a time for it!
And that our sorrow will come to an end. In time, we will feel joyful again!
Friends, the Lord wants your heart—open and honest. He will send His Comforter, the Holy Spirit, to ease your pain. If you are sad, do not try to hide that from the Lord or your Christian brothers and sisters.
And if you know a friend or family member is sad, reach out to them with love and encourage them that their grief is not a sin. That not only is it human to grieve, it is also divine.
Pray for them and with them, offering to share their burden. Paul tells us in Romans 12:15, “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.”
Help them to bring their sorrow to the foot of the cross, so Christ may help them carry their burden, as He desires all of us to do.
Will you pray with me?
Loving God, thank you for the emotions you have given us, including our feelings of sadness and grief. You have made us in your good image and given us the ability to love other people very deeply. Help us to trust in you, through happy times and sad, and to never hide our true feelings from you or our Christian brothers and sisters. Reassure us that we will have the strength to go on, with your Spirit’s help. Help us to trust that Jesus will help us carry our burdens for us. Remind us that the time for mourning will end. We long for your kingdom to come, Lord, and Your return for Your Church. We long for the time when all our tears will be wiped away and we will be made whole and perfect in You. In our Triune God we pray. Amen.
Blessings in Christ,
Pastor Karen
Is it OK to grieve when we are Christians? Would God approve of our grieving the loss of loved ones, though we believe that those who die in the Lord will go home to be with God in heaven?
And does God grieve?
To weep, to mourn, is human. And God has made us in His image, therefore mourning and sadness is also a divine characteristic.
The Bible tells us that Christ grieved. He experienced the same deep sorrow that humans experience at the loss of a loved one, despite knowing his loved one was home with God in heaven.
In John 11, Jesus encounters his friends, Mary and Martha, greving for their brother, Lazarus, who had been “in the tomb for four days.” Martha met him just outside the village and scolded him for not coming sooner to heal him while he was gravely ill.
John 11 goes on, “Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there.
“When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’
“When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, ‘Where have you laid him?’ They said to him, ‘Lord, come and see.’
“Jesus began to weep.”
Sometimes Christians believe they have to put on a false front—a show of being happy or at least being content because Christians have to be happy all the time, right? They hide their true feelings because somewhere along the line they heard that to grieve the loss of a loved one is to fail to accept God’s Will. The Lord gives life and the Lord takes life away. They mistakenly believe that to be sad is to lack faith in the promises of God.
Yet Ecclesiastes reassures us that there is time for joy and a time for weeping. This means that we are expected to weep—there is a time for it!
And that our sorrow will come to an end. In time, we will feel joyful again!
Friends, the Lord wants your heart—open and honest. He will send His Comforter, the Holy Spirit, to ease your pain. If you are sad, do not try to hide that from the Lord or your Christian brothers and sisters.
And if you know a friend or family member is sad, reach out to them with love and encourage them that their grief is not a sin. That not only is it human to grieve, it is also divine.
Pray for them and with them, offering to share their burden. Paul tells us in Romans 12:15, “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.”
Help them to bring their sorrow to the foot of the cross, so Christ may help them carry their burden, as He desires all of us to do.
Will you pray with me?
Loving God, thank you for the emotions you have given us, including our feelings of sadness and grief. You have made us in your good image and given us the ability to love other people very deeply. Help us to trust in you, through happy times and sad, and to never hide our true feelings from you or our Christian brothers and sisters. Reassure us that we will have the strength to go on, with your Spirit’s help. Help us to trust that Jesus will help us carry our burdens for us. Remind us that the time for mourning will end. We long for your kingdom to come, Lord, and Your return for Your Church. We long for the time when all our tears will be wiped away and we will be made whole and perfect in You. In our Triune God we pray. Amen.
Blessings in Christ,
Pastor Karen
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