Grief

One certainty in this world is pain. We’ll experience loss, change, sadness, and hurt. Often the circumstances are beyond are control and can leave us feeling stuck in our grief. God cares about the pain we feel. He understands it more deeply than anyone else does. We can see in scripture that Jesus experienced grief, too, and in times of trouble, he is our true comforter.

Scriptures on Grief

1 Kings 14:13

All Israel will mourn for him and bury him. He is the only one belonging to Jeroboam who will be buried, because he is the only one in the house of Jeroboam in whom the LORD, the God of Israel, has found anything good.

1 Thessalonians 4:13–18

Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words.

2 Corinthians 1:3–5

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.

2 Corinthians 5:8

We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

Isaiah 57:1

The righteous perish,
and no one ponders it in his heart;
devout men are taken away,
and no one understands
that the righteous are taken away
to be spared from evil.

Isaiah 66:13

“As a mother comforts her child,
so will I comfort you;
and you will be comforted over Jerusalem."

Jeremiah 49:11

“Leave your orphans; I will protect their lives.
Your widows too can trust in me."

John 14:1–3

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. 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.”

Joshua 1:9

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."

Matthew 28:20

“…teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Philippians 1:21

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

Psalm 116:15

Precious in the sight of the LORD
is the death of his saints.

Prayer

Take this prayer and make it your own. Sometimes words are not appropriate. Remember that you can still be in God’s presence without saying anything. You can cry with him, wait with him, rest with him, and just think with him. Find a way and a place to be with him. Invite him to come be with you, and ask him to share his heart with you—what does he delight in, what are his thoughts?

“Lord, here I am. You are the creator of all things--the earth, the sky, the sea, the stars and galaxies and universe. You are the King of the earth and everything beyond the earth. I trust you. I will praise you.”

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