The devil comes to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10), and time and again I have seen the devil try to use grief to stop myself as well as other people from going forward in the lives God has given us and in fulfilling His calling and purpose for us. I have learned three powerful truths when it comes to all this.
First, Jesus offers us an abundant life (John 10:10), and the Bible makes clear we can do all God calls us to do through Jesus who gives us strength (Phil. 4:13) and through the power of the Holy Spirit who lives in Jesus’ followers (2 Peter 1:3). So must we look to the Lord when we grieve to enable and empower us to go forth.
Second, God will comfort us (2 Cor. 1:3-5) when we turn to Him and pour out our hearts to Him (Psalms 62:8). Therefore we can GO FORWARD with our lives and God’s calling and purpose for us WITH ANY NECESSARY GRIEVING ALONG THE WAY. We do not need to be stopped by the grief. We can simply trust God to heal us as we press on and come to Him for love, comfort, and healing along the way.
Third, God’s greatest commands are to love Him with all our hearts and to love each other (Matthew 22:37-40) not to love and serve self. Grief tends to keep us focused on ourselves whereas God commands us to love and serve Him and others. When we turn our focus to God and others, and to loving and serving Him and them, we can experience a break from the grieving and a wonderful joy in seeing God use us to love and bless Him and others. This does not mean we do not need time alone with Jesus to grieve. This is a vital part of healing. But it does mean we should not be self-consumed to the point we are unwilling to obey God’s commands concerning Him and others.
For so very long I allowed the devil to use grief to stop me from moving forward in my life, calling, and purpose. Now I understand when we keep following Jesus forward, the Lord will give us the time we need along the way to grieve and He will give us the time to fulfill His will for our lives.
The starting place? Putting our trust in the Lord and putting our grieving hearts and our entire lives in His heavenly tender loving caring compassionate merciful healing hands.
Please cry out to God for all you need as you go forward. Yes, forward. Please follow the Holy Spirit of God as He gently and wonderfully leads you forth! Hallelujah, glory be to the Lord God almighty, AMEN!
“Hear my cry, O God; Attend to my prayer. From the end of the earth I will cry to You, When my heart is overwhelmed; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For You have been a shelter for me, A strong tower from the enemy. I will abide in Your tabernacle forever; I will trust in the shelter of Your wings…” Psalms 61:1-4 NKJV