“Please help so and so not be stuck,” I essentially prayed for a friend who was grieving,
Then this message came strong on my heart.
Ever been stuck in grief? Are you now? Feeling like you will never get past it? Like your life is on hold and how could you possibly ever get past the grief to get back to your life? The life you were living before grief took over? Feeling so stuck in grief you feel like nothing could possibly get you unstuck?
I experienced this for years and years. I grieved so many losses. And it was always the same. Stuck, stuck, stuck. I felt like I could never get past the grief. It seemed impossibly hard to get through the day let alone imagine ever getting on with my life. I literally felt like I could not see past the grief. It seemed to affect absolutely everything, and it was like I was stuck in time. Like the world was going forward without me.
But God has changed me. He has taught me how to handle grief without getting stuck. Whereby I can grieve AND keep going forward. This is what He has taught me.
First and foremost, when we grieve, we can cry out to God for all we need, and we can pour out our hearts to Him as we grieve. He has everything we need including His love, fellowship, comfort, hope, healing, joy, peace, wisdom, encouragement, strength, provision, other followers of His to love and help and pray for and encourage us, and all else we need.
Second, He has a plan and purpose for our lives. It is not to be stuck in grief. It is to love and serve Him with all our hearts, to love others as ourselves, and to seek and fulfill the individual purpose He has for each of us.
We may feel like we cannot do anything except grieve, but when we cry out to God He will enable us to go forward in life with any necessary grieving along the way.
If you are grieving, and feel stuck, please cry out to God, pour out your heart to Him, and take one step forward. Then the next one. And the next. Keep walking. If you have repented and believe in Jesus Christ as Lord, if you have truly committed your life to God and His ways, you will not walk alone. He will walk with you. And He will provide all you need along the way – including the strength to press on.
If you need to cry along the way, that is okay. Pour out your tears to God. And reach out to the people He places in your life to walk alongside you. But don’t get stuck in the grief. Keep walking. Keep crying out to God. Keep pouring out your heart to Him. And seek His will for you day by day.
Whether He calls you to something as simple as baking a cake for a neighbor in need, volunteering at a soup kitchen for two hours, playing basketball with your neighbor’s foster children, or as big as getting prepared to go on a missions trip or apply to medical school to become a medical missionary or prepare for your calling as a pastor on the other side of the country, whatever His plan is for your life each and every day, cry out to God for all you need to go on – and fulfill it.
Keep waking, keep walking. No more stuck. Walk forward with the Lord. Amen! Oh, cry out to the Lord!
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 NKJV
“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the LORD Forever.” Psalms 23:1-6 NKJV