Overcoming Grief: God’s Prevailing Purpose

Lord, I know Your Purpose will prevail

Draw me nearer, make my way clearer

So that I can overcome…

Something rarely talked about is the grief associated with letting go of what you thought your life would look like. While there is freedom in trusting in God’s faithfulness, even when we surrender our will for His, there may be times that we mourn what we had or what we thought we would have by now.

For example, I have always wanted to be a wife and mom. I got married very young, and that marriage ended in divorce due to infidelity. I have been single ever since and haven’t had children yet. I could have forced relationships to happen, and I could have chosen to, as people often suggest, “just have [or adopt] a baby.” But, I haven’t because, while growing closer to God, I have learned how He desires those dreams to come to pass. Knowing that, however, does not mean that I never experience sadness about not having my branch growing off of our family tree yet.

There may be areas of your life in which you have dreams and desires that you know are Godly, but they just haven’t come to pass yet. Sometimes, you may experience grief over those dreams and desires. You may even wonder if you should just have done life your way. When those thoughts and emotions rise, we must be confident and know that God’s Purpose will prevail!

You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail. Proverbs 19:21 NLT

Jesus’ disciples had to leave everything to follow Him. (Matthew 16:24-26). They left businesses, families, and traditions for the cause of Christ. Because they were all human, I imagine they felt some grief. Yet, they knew that what they would gain by following Christ would far outweigh what they left behind.

Even while following Jesus, the disciples didn’t always understand the suffering they experienced. Far too often, people believe that following God’s path for your life and accepting the gift of salvation means your life will be easy. We are not promised that the path is easy or convenient or comfortable. Still, anything we suffer will be nothing compared to the glory God reveals in us (Romans 8:18).

So, how do we overcome the grief associated with following the narrow path (Matthew 7:13)? We acknowledge that we have plans, dreams, and desires for our lives, but God’s purpose will prevail. We recognize that we thought our lives would look different now, but God’s timing will prevail. We refuse to succumb to the oldest trick of the enemy, and we acknowledge and understand that God is not holding back any good thing from us. We pray for God’s help to see things His way and reveal what we can handle knowing. We press on in faith for those things not yet revealed. That is how we overcome!