Jesus Does Not Leave Us Alone With Our Broken Hearts

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever. John 14:16

When I think about grief and how it first began, I think about the heart of the Father who was the first to experience grief and who carried all of ours to the cross.

I also think about the first two people He created, and how they lost more than anyone. Adam and Eve were given a very good world in which to live - a world we cannot imagine where they were not yet acquainted with the knowledge of evil. When you contrast the innocence in which they lived and the closeness with their Maker…walking with Him in the cool of the day…it is all the more tragic to see them banished from the garden because of their choices. Not only would they have to leave behind their idyllic setting…all they had ever known…but they likely left behind their intimate walks with the Lord. Everything changed and their hearts were grieved along with that of their Father.

Unimaginable grief would visit them again years later as they were the first parents to lose a child - especially devastating given that this loss was at the hands of their other son. So now their hearts were broken at losing Abel, who would no longer walk the earth, but also at losing Cain, who would be forced to wander the earth away from their presence. They likely experienced similar grief to that of the Lord all those years before as they watched Cain depart.

In my days of grieving, it helps to know I am not alone because the Holy Spirit is my constant companion…but also to know that I am not the only person to ever face the crushing, heart-piercing emotion of grief. God, in His wisdom, gives me support in community and in knowing that many have walked this path before me. Perhaps even more special, He gives me the ability to testify to others of His power to keep His Word from the Sermon on the Mount - that He will bless us when we are brokenhearted with His very presence.

Questions:

• What helps encourage you in your darkest days?
• Describe a time you sat with Jesus as He wept with you…