Grieving Our Hard Stories - a 6-Day Devotional on Living GriefSample

Day 1

That Day We Got Permission to Grieve

Grief is not an experience reserved solely for death. We each carry inside ourselves a hard story – a grief-worthy narrative of loss – because grief is a natural and normal human response to loss.

It’s a deeply personal experience of the soul. And it’s a placeholder for what was.

Grief is a reminder of things lost, dreams unrealized, unwanted goodbyes, disappointments, and life changes.

It was 2016 when my husband built a life outside of our covenant. Parked on the side of a highway, his eyes void of emotion - holding almost twenty years of marriage in his hands - he declared he was done.

On that day, grief burst into my life with such force I doubted I’d ever feel okay again.

But since no one had died, I wondered if I had the right to grieve.

I wondered, since no casseroles came to my door and no condolence cards arrived in the mail, if this loss was considered grief-worthy.

Life just went on. But inside, I grieved deeply and desperately needed someone to tell me that was okay. I needed someone to remind me that it was right and healthy to grieve.

We call grief that doesn’t fit into the typical grief box disenfranchised grief. It’s grief that isn’t publically validated and doesn’t find recognition from society's attitude about grief and loss.

And so, the grief sits - dare I say percolates - unseen and unacknowledged inside us.

But Jesus

There is no way others will fully understand our grief. Grief is a deeply personal, uniquely individual experience based on your relationship with the person and your connection to the loss.

In the absence of casseroles and ceremonies, I fell on my face at the feet of Jesus. Because, as you probably know, He fully and completely understands us. He never turns us away. In fact, what we find at His feet is Hope.

Hope for healing. Hope for a future. Hope for freedom from the pain. And hope for a beautifully redeemed story.

The Bible is full of reminders that our Heavenly Father sees our disenfranchised grief. Reminders that our hard stories are not too hard for Him to heal. My prayer is that you’ll find comfort in the Hope woven throughout the hard stories of women who have gone before us. God is in the business of bringing beauty from our ashes.

And if no one has said it to you, I am so sorry you’re in this season of sorrow. Today, if you can, go ahead and let yourself grieve. The Bible tells us that God is close to the brokenhearted. Even when others lack understanding of the pain of our loss - He never does.

What hard story are you carrying today that has you in a season of grief? Write it out in a journal to our Heavenly Father, or share the details of your sorrow with Him. He already knows, but He loves it when His children share their hearts with Him.