There are seasons in life. After a loss, we enter a season of grief – a season of sadness.
Sadness is a natural and healthy emotion during a time of loss. At times, it can be deep and intense.
How do we live well through a season of deep sadness? Is that even possible?
The following is a chapter from Walking with God Through Grief. Hopefully, it will be helpful and encouraging to you today.
I’M SAD
I’m sad. Very, very sad.
My sadness colors everything.
Lord, help me.
Who likes being sad?
Yet, there are times when sadness is good and appropriate. Sadness is a gift from God when it fits the situation.
And sadness certainly fits this situation. Someone special is no longer here with us.
How could we not be sad?
Our hearts ache. Perhaps they are broken. Maybe we even feel shattered beyond repair.
The voice of the Lord comes to us through King David:
The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.
The Lord is near. God Almighty is with us. He sees us. He knows us.
He is near to the brokenhearted. He is here. Right now.
He saves the crushed in spirit. We feel devastated and shattered. He hears our hearts. He has us.
Sadness wells up inside. This is natural and healthy.
We let the sadness out. And we keep letting it out. This is good and healthy. Our sadness declares our love.
The world doesn’t like sadness. It often shuns it. The world is not kind to grieving hearts.
But the Lord is near to us. We might feel crushed. He walks with us.
He knows our sadness. He knows us.
The Lord is near to the brokenhearted
and saves the crushed in spirit.
(Psalm 34:18, ESV)
You know my sadness, Lord.
I remind myself that You are in this with me.
I give myself and my sadness to You.
Comfort me, Lord.
I receive Your perfect provision for me this day.
I choose to trust You.
In Jesus’ name…
Affirmation: Sadness is a natural part of grief. I will trust the Lord in this season of sadness.
The above is an excerpt from Walking with God Through Grief, which is part of the God and Grief Series.
Question: How would you describe your season of sadness? Please feel free to share using the comment section below.
I made it to page 11 in “please be patient with me I’m grieving.” There I saw your email address and while I feel like I’m talking to everyone I know about this I couldn’t help but hope maybe here one person who will really get me..
To describe this season of sadness seems like an impossibility. I don’t see how this sadness can be a season, it has too strong flavor of permanence. The way I move changed, the way I eat changed, the way I breathe changed, the way I sleep changed, the way I pray changed, The way I walk changed, the way I worship changed, and this list could go on for a very long time. The word pain has changed in meaning to a word I no longer have a definition for I just know that the grief is pain whatever that means.
It has been 6 years since my husband passed. He passed 1 week before our county went into lockdown for Covid. I felt so isolated. No one could visit and I couldn’t meet up with friends, go to church, gym, even the grocery store was not encouraged. Your books and zoom meetings helped me through this very challenging period. Thank you so much! I continue to enjoy reading your emails even though my grief has softened and I have shaped a new life for myself. God bless you and all that you do to help others. Thank you, Jody Joines
It’s a deep, deep pain that I feel most hours of my day. My spouse was my life, my soulmate, my all in life. God blessed my life with her. I was richly blessed by all she gave me. I’m so thankful I’ll see her again in paradise. Oh, what a glorious day that will be. Thank you Jesus.