Grief

 

Below is a devotional from my Grief Share devotionals which come to my e-mail  box each day. Since all of us experience grief in our lives at some point, may you be blessed and challenged by this devotional. dear Christian:

Embracing the Change in Your Life

Day 282

Grief will either make you a better person or it will cause you to harden your heart as you resist its lessons. You have the opportunity for unparalleled spiritual growth. This will not happen quickly, but you can grow deeply. By learning that life is a precious gift, you can do more than just exist; you can live on a higher plane.

It was when Isaiah’s friend died that he had a deeper experience of God.

“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory’” (Isaiah 6:1-3).

Lord, I want to live above all the garbage that goes on in my mind. I want to grow spiritually and discover You like never before. Amen.

Because He Lives I can Face Tomorrow

 

 

Sometimes as believers we allow ourselves to get weighed down with worry and anxiety, but this is useless and unnecessary.  Because Christ lives, we as Christians can face tomorrow!  All fear can be gone, becaue we know He holds the future.  He not only holds our future, but He also hold our hands. Sometime before my late sister's death her husband and her sang the song, "Because He Lives" on YouTube.  That testimony of her faith is such a treasure to me.  It is encouragememt as well to my own faith walk.   Life is worth the living, just because He lives!

I will post a link to that song sung by them below.  May you be blessed by the  song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdAyn8xkGFQ&list=RDGMEMMib4QpREwENw3_jAc0YgNwVMGdAyn8xkGFQ&start_radio=1

  

Faith of a Child Expressed

 

(My first husband, Wayne, and four of the granddchildren many years ago and while they were young.)

Do we believe that God is good all the time?  I was looking at a Facebook memory recently that I had written 16 years ago.  That was written when I was still serving as a caregiver for my first husband, Wayne, at the time.  I was also involved at the time with helping my daughter-in-law once a week with the homeschooling of my granchildren.    It illustrates the faith of even a child.  My grandchildren are young adults now, but this memory has blessed and encouraged me throughout the years. 

This is what I wrote that day 16 years ago,"Today during home schooling "the girls sang a Scripture song which said that God has good plans for our lives. I asked them, " Is this true even when sad things happen?" They said, “Yes.” So I said, “What about Grandpa not being able to walk?” They had to think about this. Then Una said, “One good thing is that now that Grandpa can’t work, he can come to the Thursday night suppers at our house.”

*Recently due to the kindness of my daughtrer-in-law and my grandchildren, the tradition of Thursday night suppers was again revived!

Lessons Learned Through Grief

  

I  have buried and grieved two husbands.  Wayne passed away in early 2011, and Bob passed away in November of  2024. I do not know why the Lord asked me to do this, but I know the Lord has been with me through it all.  I have grown in my love and dependence on the Lord through these experiences wirh grief.  Since most people have not remained untouched by grief of any kind, I am going to share one of my grief share devotionals this week.  I pray, Dear Christian, that you will benefit from it and be blessed by it:

Day 262

"There are some lessons in life that you only learn through times of grief or suffering. This is why it is important that you do not waste your sorrows. Times of suffering show you your limitations and how needy you really are.

Dr. Larry Crabb shares his initial reaction to the news of his brother’s death: “I came outside and I remember my wife was waiting for me out in the car, and as I came out, I just stood there and said, ‘Bill’s dead.’ It was just a very, very strong moment. But as I recall that moment, I think my first internal deep reaction was not despair. I think my first reaction at that moment was I must find God as I have never found Him before or I’m not going to make it.”

People are needy. The world wants you to be tough, strong, and independent. God wants you to lean on Him. God’s way is right and wise. Depend on Him as you have never done before, and you will find true peace and power that can never be achieved on your own.

“‘Do not be afraid, O man highly esteemed,’ he said. ‘Peace! Be strong now; be strong.’ When he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, ‘Speak, my lord, since you have given me strength’” (Daniel 10:19).

“Then he continued, ‘Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them’” (Daniel 10:12).

Holy God, I come humbly before You. I seek strength, understanding, and true knowledge of You. Show Yourself to me, O Lord. Amen."

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Grieving with Hope
This GriefShare-based book contains short, topical chapters addressing issues that grieving people face but are often hesitant to mention to others; it gently guides people to determine whether they’re grieving in a way that leads to hope and ultimate healing."

Spiritual Adjustments

 

I have developed a certain level of back pain issues throughout the years.  I have also  developed osteoporosis.  In an attempt to counteract pain I go to my chiropractor once a week for an adjustment and alignment.  I also go to a massage therapist every other week. At one time I only went to the chiropractor once a month, but over time it became necessary to go more often.  When one repeatedly uses ones body when it is not properly aligned, ones body may try to compensate and hence, may cause further injury and damage.

We also need to be spiritually aligned. It is so easy to tell ourselves half truths or negative stories about our current circumstances.  It is easy to allow the devil to whisper discouraging thoughts about our day to day situations and trials.  Instead we need to flip the negative script in our minds, to change our mindset, and to remind ourselves of God's precious promises regarding the Lord God's faithfulness and unfailing love.  In order to do this, we need to actually know what the Lord has promised in His Word, and we need to daily dig deeply into His Word.  Further, we need to think of our trials as light and temporary. Finally, we need to remember that good things like endurance and spiritual growth develops through difficult times in our lives.  This is how spiritual alignment takes place in the Christian's life.

We can still further flip our negative script about difficult seasons in our lives and become more spiritually aligned with God and His Word by praising Him for whom He is in His character as revealed in the Bible.  We also need to agree with whom He says we are.  We further need to remember all He has done for us by purchasing our salvation and in His contanst faithfulness in our lives. We can further take a small step forward in obedience, and share our difficult seasons with others around us.  

In conclusion, we need to reject what the world promotes to be true, and we must embrace what God says is true in His Word.  I talked about that in my blog post last week.  The link for that blog post can be found below:

https://christiancaregiving.blogspot.com/2025/10/what-world-says-vs-what-lord-says.html

 

What the World Says Vs What the Lord Says

 

Recently our woman's Sunday school class received a handout emphasizing the differences between what the world says about life and the truths that God says about life.  For the purpose of this blog post I am going to discuss these differences today. 

The world says we need to hustle or work harder.  God's Word tells us in Proverb 3:5-6, however, to trust the Lord God and to not lean on or trust our own understanding of things.  It commands us submit to the Lord, and promises that in doing so the Lord will make our paths straight.  He will direct our paths in the right way to go.  The world tells us to manifest our goals and destiny and that we must determine our life's path. James1:17 reminds us. however,that everything good comes from the Lord God alone, and Proverbs16:9 reminds us that it is God alone who determines and establishes our steps.

The world tells us to get what we want by putting ourselves first.  God tells us, however, in James 4:6 that God elevates or shows fovor to the humble and opposes the proud.  The world says success equals achievement. The Lord God, however, declares in Colossians 3:23 that success is everyday faithfulness.

The world says that life is short and to live for oneself.  It says to live for pleasure and the now.  The world says one's life is one's own. God says we belong to Him and that we should live for the hope of Eternity..  It also says that things work together according to God's purpose for those who believe in Him.  God further finally says that it is He who holds all things together.   (1 Peter 1:3, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, Romans 8:28 and Colossians 1:17)

 God and His Word is always truthful.  God and His Word will never fail.  Trust what the Lord God says and not what the world says.

Abide in the Vine, Jesus

 

Scripture in the first few verses of the Gospel of John chapter 15 speaks of the necessity of abiding in the Vine, Jesus, in order for our lives to be joyful, productive, and fruitful.  Without our dependence on the Lord and our clinging to Him our lives will be of little significance.  They also will hold little joy.  Clinging to Jesus is the only source of these kind of blessings or fruit in our lives.

In a world of trials, unrest, wars, and violence it is especially important to be clinging to the Lord Jesus.  He is our only resource for sanity and grace in this world and in our lives. I talked about this in my blog post last week.  If you want to read or reread that post, you can find the link below:

https://christiancaregiving.blogspot.com/2025/10/the-cross-alone.html