Invincible by Robert JeffressSample

Day Seven

The Mountain of Grief

Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 2 Corinthians 1:3-4; 1 Peter 1:6-7; Psalm 30:5

If you’ve experienced grief, then you know that it’s disorienting and frightening, and there are times when you wonder whether you’ll ever see the light again. Rest assured, you will. You might also wrestle, though, with questions of “why.” Here are a few biblical truths to hold on to in the midst of grief’s questions:  

• We live in a fallen world stained by sin. Death is a by-product of sin, as Paul said in Romans 5:12: “Through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned.”  
• God uses trials, suffering, and death to help us focus on our hope of heaven. Believers are not to grieve the loss of loved ones without hope. Those who died in Jesus are with Him, and a day is coming when the Lord will catch up the living to be with Him and their loved ones in heaven (1 Thessalonians 4:13–18). 
• God will use our grief to help comfort others in the future. That’s the promise found in 2 Corinthians 1:3–4. The word “comfort” here comes from fortis—to fortify—which means “to strengthen.” 
• Trials, suffering, and grief are a process by which we grow and mature in our faith. The book of 1 Peter was written to those suffering persecution. Peter told them, “In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:6–7). By the time Christ comes for us, or we go to Him, He wants our faith to be refined like gold.

Grief is a mountain that can cast one of the darkest shadows in our lives. But David reminds us, “Weeping may last for the night, but a shout of joy comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5).

Take your time, and let it be. Let your heart grieve for as long as it takes. And remember that in your mourning, the morning is coming. 

If you are going through a time of grief right now, what would it look like to grieve with hope?