Day Two:  Grieve What Has Been Done to You

Focus Scripture

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Matthew 11: 28 (NIV)  

Devotion

Grief is not a celebrated emotion. Grief is complicated. It’s the party pooper and the rain on everyone’s parade. Most of us would rather bypass grief and get on to good times and happiness. 

Grief requires that we pause our over-scheduled lives and focus on our pain. This is not fun. Grief has no timetable, so we would rather avoid it altogether and get on with living, but God allows grief.  

In His sovereignty, God could shield His children from sadness, sorrow, and despair, but He does not. He allows us to experience the full breadth of our emotions to include grief.  

Maybe He does this because He knows grief is one emotion that will drive us to Him. In our despair, we reach out for God who is big enough and compassionate enough to handle our pain. Grief reminds us we need God and are not self-sufficient beings. When we are grieving we can go to God because He cares for us.  

We are not alone. We are not forsaken. We are not a bother. We are loved immensely by the one who is concerned about everything that concerns us.

To all those hurting from what has been done to you, Jesus says, “Come.” He welcomes the grieving, the hurting, and the broken. He does not and will not ever turn us away. He will never require us to get our emotional selves together in order to be presentable for Him. He says come as you are, and He will never revoke His invitation. If you need to grieve, go to God. I dare you!

Reflective Questions

What offense do you need to grieve? How might God comfort you as you grieve?