You Asked For It: Good Grief | Eddie Taylor
Eddie Taylor   -   October 3, 2021

You Asked For It

Good Grief

 

Ecclesiastes 3:4 (ESV) a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

Grief is a very normal, natural, and necessary process. These are the three N’s of grief.

Soul Tattoo: Grief is not an event, it’s a journey.

Definitions:

  • Grief: The feelings we feel after loss.
  • Mourning: The expression of grief.  Grief gone public.
  • Bereaved: State of being deprived of a close relation or friend through death.

4 TASKS OF MOURNING (William Worden) 

  1. Accept the loss
  2. Acknowledge the pain of the loss
  3. Adjust to a new environment
  4. Emotionally relocate the person and reinvest.

1 Thessalonians 4:13 (NLT) And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope.

Jesus mourned:

  • He taught:
    Matthew 5:4 (NIV) Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
  • He modeled.
    John 11:33-36 (NKJV) Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. [34] And He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.” [35] Jesus wept. [36] Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!”

Myths– false beliefs that add to your pain….you must reject these myths.

  • People with a strong faith don’t grieve.
  • A strong person should be able to get through a loss without showing emotion.
  • You should pretty much be back to normal after two or three months.
  • If you express intense feelings, you are losing control of yourself.
  • Crying is a sign of weakness.
  • Grief gets easier as you get older.
  • Getting angry or asking God difficult questions mean you have a weak faith.
  • You can tell how much a person loved a person by how they grieve.
  • Losing an infant is easier because they didn’t get to know them.
  • Resolving your grief means putting your loved ones out of your mind and moving on.
  • A strong person can deal with grief alone.
  • Christians shouldn’t grieve because they know their loved one is in heaven.
  • It is better to grieve intellectually than emotionally.
  • Only immediate family members will experience significant grief.
  • Continuing to talk about love ones only makes the pain worse.
  • Grief proceeds through very predictable and orderly stages.
  • After a loved one has died, you can never be happy again.

John 8:32 (NKJV) And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

Growth / Close

How do we cope (mourn)…it is as individualized as your loss or pain.

  • Journal
  • Music
  • Artwork
  • Meditation, prayer, Scripture, worship
  • Write letters
  • Scrapbooking
  • Exercise
  • Read
  • Talk 

“Whatever method you choose, find a way to allow your feelings to move from within yourself to outside yourself.” James E. Miller

 

Grief Jars Illustration.