Can You Just Sit With Me? Sitting With God in GriefSample

Trusting God in Grief

I remember days, weeks, months, and years of darkness and sadness. Experiencing loss after gut-wrenching loss. Witnessing the world around me spinning and life moving along as if nothing had happened.

There were days that felt like a blur and times when I felt so numb that even the warmest of gestures couldn’t shake it. I remember the painted smile hiding behind deep grief and sorrow.

There have been many things that I didn’t understand about grief. Over the past thirty years, there have been many times I’ve asked God why. And it was reassuring to know that I wasn’t the only one who had questions. In the book of Job, we find Job, in all he went through, had questions too.

Job, as the Bible says, was an upright man, and he lost his family, his possessions, his status, all in one day. And Job had questions, rightfully so. Often when we hear of this story, Job’s questions are left out, but I believe they are an important part. They help us to see that we can bring all that we are experiencing in our grief to God.

Job’s grief looked like questions, shouts, more questions on top of questions. And from the outside looking in, these questions could look like a slight against God, but they weren’t. Instead, the bottom line is that Job took it all to God. Job teaches us many things, and bringing all of our hurt, pain, and grief to God is one of those things. Another thing Job teaches us is to trust God.

Job says, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him” (Job 13:15 NKJV). Though Job had been through so much, I believe God showed himself mighty, strong, and faithful on Job’s behalf. And Job found he could trust God and bring it all to him. And so it is with us. We can trust God and take it all to him. To sit with him, to process, and to heal.

God bids us to come and to sit with him when he says, “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10 NIV). I believe that God is asking, Can you just sit with me? Sit with me in this grief, trust me in this grief. Let me be your comforter, your peace giver, your strength, your joy, everything you need.

Adapted from Can You Just Sit with Me? Healthy Grieving for the Losses of Life. Copyright © 2023 by Natasha Smith. Used by permission. For more information, please visit www.ivpress.com/can-you-just-sit-with-me.