Sometimes We Walk Through Grief.

Sometimes we walk through grief. In the last six months I have buried family members, colleagues, friends, ministry partners, coaches, and more. Grief upon grief upon grief. At the same time, I have also shared the grief experienced by others. Coaching friends, sports ministry colleagues, and others have suffered loss and I feel their loss in a second-hand manner. It still hurts. It’s still heavy. It’s still painful.

Isaiah 53 refers to the Messiah as, “a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief.” In some ways, we share the ministry of the Christ when we walk into the grief of loss, when we share the mourning of our friends, when we follow Jesus’ way of weeping at Lazarus’ grave.

Author George Bernard Shaw is quoted as saying, “Death is the ultimate statistic, one out of one dies.” The only way to avoid walking through grief is to become a hermit, to cut off all relationships, and to care for no one. That is obviously not healthy, and is certainly not the Lord’s will. It is an unavoidable condition of life, thus we must learn to deal well with it.

When you step into the murky waters of grief, take the risk to feel the weight of it. Don’t try to stoically stay above it all, feel the emotions deeply. Look people in the eye and speak softly to their hearts. There are no magic words, and you cannot fix this. This is a situation through which to walk, not a problem to be solved. Let your posture, your embrace, your hand on a shoulder, your clear-eyed, face to face empathy speak for you. Share the burden of grief with your friends. They’re worth it.

Sometimes we walk through grief. I always feel terribly inadequate as I approach these moments. That’s really good as in this inadequacy I experience the truth of II Corinthians 12:9 - “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.