God’s Word Soothes Us in Grief

 ‘To depart and be with Christ…is better by far.’ - Philippians 1:23 NIV 

When death takes someone we love, we can stand on God’s Word. We'll all have to deal with grief at some point in our lives. It’s not a quick and easy process. There are many stages to grief, and we might go through these stages more than once. We need to give ourselves permission and time to grieve. However we’re feeling, we need to stand on verses such as: ‘Brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died’ (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 NLT); ‘Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever. Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength’ (1 Corinthians 15:42-43 NLT); ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled…My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am’ (John 14:1-3 NIV). Paul writes, ‘To depart and…be with Christ…is better by far.’ When we’re grieving, we sometimes might struggle to find comfort in these words. We want the person we love to still be here with us. But when we truly know that it’s better for them to be with God, we can begin to accept what has happened. 

What Now? 

Pray for anyone who is grieving right now. Ask God to comfort them.