Love Walks through Grief

Scripture: Ruth 1:6-10

Then she arose with her daughters-in-law that she might return from the land of Moab, for she had heard in the land of Moab that the Lord had visited His people in giving them food.  So she departed from the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her; and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah.  And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May the Lord deal kindly with you as you have dealt with the dead and with me.  “May the Lord grant that you may find rest, each in the house of her husband.” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept.  And they said to her, “No, but we will surely return with you to your people.”

Insights:  When we are in pain we walk through the journey of grief as well.  The first stage is denial.  You are just numb to the reality of the situation and you can’t believe the person is gone or the situation has occurred.  The second stage is anger.  You become angry with the person for dying or with God for “taking” the person.  Your anger may even get vented toward other people.  You may be angry you are having to walk this journey.  The third stage is bargaining.  In this stage, we get lost in the “If only . . .” or “What if . . .” kind of self-conversations.  We are trying to figure a way to get the person back or to reverse the circumstances of our pain.  The fourth stage is the longest phase and it is depression.  In this phase it feels like the pain will last forever and there is no way out of the pit of despair, but let me tell you there is a fifth stage.  The depression will get better and you will finally reach the stage of acceptance and from here you will be able to move on with your life.  Beloved, one of the biggest keys to this cycle of grief which comes from the pain of loss is to have someone walk the journey out with you.  In Naomi’s case, her two daughter-in-laws literally walked with her back toward Judah.  The wept with her.  They sought to go the distance with her through her pain.  As I have stated the last two days, this grief is not always just with the loss of a loved one.  In our Vision illustration we have been using, there will come a time when we may get depressed because we have lost people who have not chosen to walk this journey with us and we begin to seriously question if this journey is worth it.  It can lead us to a point of depression.  Remember, however, what I wrote yesterday, it is worth the price we pay to see the journey come to pass.  Walk through the grief cycle and reach the stage of acceptance and let God be glorified in your life.

Questions:

1.  Who has walked the path of grief with you in the past?

2.  Are you willing to walk with someone else through their time of grief?

Prayer: Father, thank You for the people in my past who have walked the journey of grief out with me.  Grant me Your grace to walk such a journey out with others.  Amen.