By Will Heydel
Scripture Reading: Psalm 42:1-11, Luke 22:39-46, Isaiah 25:8, Psalm 43:1-5, Isaiah 65:19-20
“I am tired of going to Sellars Funeral Home.”
Those were the words spoken by one of my close relatives years ago when our family was deep in grief and loss. From 2015 to 2018, our family lost four members. Our hearts were broken, our souls were weary, and sorrow seemed to linger everywhere we turned. I assure you, grief was not a welcome friend.
Looking back, I think of the disciples in the garden of Gethsemane. Luke records that when Jesus found them sleeping, they were “exhausted from their grief” (Luke 22:45). That phrase captures something many of us have experienced. Grief is not just emotional—it is exhausting. It settles deep into the heart and drains the soul.
None of us invites grief into our lives. So what do we do when grief enters in?
We must acknowledge its presence. Psalm 42:11 says, “Why, my soul, are you so dejected? Why are you in such turmoil? Put your hope in God, for I will still praise him, my Savior and my God.” The psalmist was acknowledging that there are deep parts of the human soul—places of hurt, confusion, and longing—that others may never see.
If we are honest, much of our inner life remains hidden. But none of that is hidden from God. He sees it all. He is not afraid of the depths of our sorrow, and He is able to sympathize with our pain. If you are grieving today, you can be certain: God understands.
We can be confident of that because Jesus Himself was “a man of sorrows,” deeply familiar with grief. When Mary and Martha mourned the death of their brother Lazarus, Jesus did not stand at a distance from their pain. Scripture tells us that He was deeply moved, and He wept (John 11:33,35). Later, as the hour of His crucifixion approached, He experienced intense anguish in the garden (Luke 22:44).
Jesus experienced these emotions firsthand because He fully embraced His humanity. He entered the brokenness of our world and felt the weight of sorrow just as we do. Yet grief does not end with sorrow. As followers of Christ, we also remember what Jesus has done as the Son of God. Through His death and resurrection, He has secured a future where grief will no longer exist.
The prophet Isaiah spoke of that coming day when he declared, “The Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from every face” (Isaiah 25:8). That promise points us forward to the return of Christ and the restoration of all things. One day, sorrow will give way to joy. Tears will be wiped away. Death will lose its grip. And the grief we carry now will be swallowed up by the eternal hope we have in Jesus.
Until that day, we remember. We remember God’s goodness in our pain. We remember that Christ understands our sorrow. And we remember that a day is coming when grief will be no more.
Written by Will Heydel
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