Ill

P 3468 Check out of lukewarm!

/ DVH

“No soldier when in service gets entangled in the enterprises of [civilian] life; his aim is to satisfy and please the One who enlisted him.” 2 Timothy 2:4. 

“Sow seeds of righteousness for yourselves, and you will reap a harvest of God’s unending love. Break up the hard, fallow ground of your heart. For it is time to seek YAHWEH’s favour until He comes to pour out righteousness on you like falling rain.” Hosea 10:12 TPT.

We remain in His teaching when we live the way Jesus would. The bible tells us there is no room for lukewarmness, yet that very state is almost normal today. We have excuses for the way we live that are like the Tower of Babel … they reach up to the sky. But the only thing that is meant to reach that high is our praises! It seems we’ve chosen to forget that we died the day we came to Christ. Dead people have no reasonable excuses, they can’t defend themselves, or criticise others. They can’t do anything!

We can’t afford to wait for this kind of passion to overtake us – our new life in Christ relies upon us choosing to mature and taking every bit of what He said seriously. Nobody else can make us do that – we must do it voluntarily. The thing is, let’s be aware that we can maintain a perfectly even, cheerful outside attitude, while inside we are seething with anger and keeping count of other people’s supposed trespasses against us! Actors count on their ability to deceive their audience with their performance, but we are not actors.

It is up to us as individuals to find and break up the hard fallow ground inside us. Those things are — ‘areas that have become cold, unyielding, and closed off due to old habits, pride, emotional walls, or unresolved pain.’ (Google.) The Holy Spirit loves to help us identify areas where our hearts lack true Godly compassion and mercy. Let’s choose to remember that if the eye suffers, the whole body does. 1 Corinthians 12:26. We no longer have any claim to any kind of judgment, dead people don’t.

Here is a quick test to see if you have anyone in your life that you really can’t stand, and you want to avoid them like the plague. Check out your state of generosity and love levels toward that person. Generosity takes our ‘temperature,’ and we can often ignore it. We are told to ‘do good to those who despitefully use us …’ sadly, most of the time we can settle for appearances, or avoidance, or living our lives removed from others with token, spoken care. Many people have moved from one church to another because they felt lonely in the crowd. Husbands and wives end up treating each other like opposing forces, yet they appear fine on the outside.  

Because of what the bible says, I know that Jesus has redeemed the old me, and the new me would not dream of flinging bad stuff at you! A mature person knows that any differences  are present because that other person is unique … so they don’t withhold love, or doing good to whoever crosses their path. They don’t live with a level of deception that pretends all is well when it is not, and they don’t blame others for their own shortcomings. Instead they find places of agreement, and ‘lose’ the bad memories under the blood of Jesus, and deliberately choose to remember instances where love prevailed.

Breaking up hard ground starts with acknowledgement, repentance, plus reparation … We are even prepared to take the whole blame when it is obvious to you that you have done nothing. Humility thrives. These people care more about winning their brother than winning some squabble! They don’t justify their own behaviour, and blame someone else for what they have chosen to say or do. Humility hates separation and will do everything in its power to repair things. Here’s a great incentive – Jesus lives in each one of us, when we are unkind to each other we are being unkind to Him. Let’s not care about who did or said what to whom, and choose to care about unity instead.

“Your people (that’s God’s own people) will rebuild what has long been in ruins, building again on the old foundations. You will be known as the people who rebuilt the walls, who restored the ruined houses.” Isaiah 58:12. Did you get that? Rebuilding ruins … those things that have been broken for years. But then you, together with the Holy Spirit, choose to rebuild on the foundation of what Christ said and did. We’ve made the mistake of thinking that we must agree with others for relationships to be restored. Instead we agree that other people, whoever they are, are worth the effort because Jesus died for them too. 

We are now “in the service of our King.” That doesn’t ‘turn off’ when we are tired, fed up, or even ill. Let’s not forget what Jesus did for us, and GAVE to us. Otherwise we might forget the reason the Holy Spirit is here with us. He gives us the power to overcome in spite of our difficulties. He isn’t just with us so we can feel good, blessed or comfortable – His sole task is to make us, with our co-operation … like Christ. His goal is transformation, not petting us and patting us so we feel happy, vindicated and okay. 

Like soldiers who obey orders, now we live our lives in obedience to the Lord’s will, His way. There is no room for lukewarm when we daily choose to live like that. Bye. 👋. 

P3454 Remembering Helps!

/ DVH

“…and when He (Jesus) had given thanks, He broke it, and said, “This is My Body, which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way also He took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”” 1 Corinthians 11:24-25 ESV. 

People participate in this scripture in a number of ways – all of them are wonderful and worth doing. From blessing our food and drink daily, to taking communion together, and reminding ourselves that Jesus’ broken body and shed blood makes a way for us to be able to run to the Lord any time we need to, or want to do it! He is here to help us.

Remembering the Holy Spirit is a great daily aim. The thing that stood out to me, in 1 Corinthians were the words … “remember Me.” These verses are a prompt to help us to value our memories of good, moment by moment, during each and every day. I liked that thought. So much crowds in on us during our daily lives, lots of things that demand our attention, it means that Jesus sometimes becomes an after-thought — if He is even a thought at all … and I’m not condemning anyone! Let’s pull our focus off the situations around us, and back onto the One Who is here to help us – the One Jesus relied upon.

Many years go, I had 3 children under 5. Trust me, you are lucky to be able to think at all when you have babies or toddlers. It was over 50 years ago, and yet I still remember the endless  wailing and feeling powerless to help the child! Not to mention the futility of trying to quiet an infant when you have no clue what caused the problem in the first place. New mothers, take this from me, please — these days will pass away and you will look back at them with bitter sweet sadness… especially the part where they hadn’t learned to say “NO!” yet. Whenever you can, enjoy the little ones.

Parenting is not about perfection, it simply requires plenty of  participation. We can’t prevent the lumps and bumps of this life happening to our kids – it’s all prep for adulthood – yours and theirs! One day soon all the intense work that goes into raising an infant will go away, and you are left with raising a brand new human being, with its own will and preferences. Parenting is not as much fun as the magazines pretend it is, and, trust me, we all fail at it – despite our dedicated efforts. Remembering Him helps us keep our cool when we can’t cope with our inadequacies.

I am learning that reflecting on the things that the Lord helps us with — successful times from the past — can often help us get through the things happening right now. David did it in 1 Samuel 17:34-36  “But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God.” Please let us remember, David is talking about two really really bad things … a lion and a bear. This is not a kitten or a cuddly toy!

And he took the past, his own personal experiences with God, and used it to do two things. It gave him courage and confidence for now. And then he used it as a weapon so he could carry out the next thing. Remembering is a very valuable tool, when Jesus Himself asks us to do it. When we are hurting, sometimes we need to be our own cheer squad. Some people enjoy writing a journal, my hubby does it periodically, and it blesses him to go back over the things that the Lord has said, and done, in the past.

Jesus asked us to remember Him when we take communion, when we eat, when we sleep, when we wake up — even as we are going about our normal lives. His Presence goes before us, and comes behind us as we walk this walk of faith. “Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; He will neither fail you nor abandon you.” Deuteronomy 31:8. 

Nothing happens to us that the Lord Himself doesn’t know about. “I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember Your miracles of long ago.  I will consider all Your works and meditate on all Your mighty deeds.” Psalm 77:11,12. It is so beneficial to our faith to remember the things He has done, especially when we feel oppressed,  ill, or even a bit depressed. You know, it is of no use to pretend that Christians don’t struggle with mental disease … that’s what it is …. mental DIS-ease. Something inside our thinking is not helping us, and we are no longer at ease. 

One of the best ways I know to help that, is to phone a friend, or if you pray in tongues do that. And if you are locked in then please don’t beat yourself up. Life may seem to be suffocating you and you do not need “ought to” and “must” sitting on your heart and mind as well. God loves us as we are. If we could perfect ourselves we would not need a Saviour! Maybe we have allowed some squirrelled up ideas about appearances and expectations to put even more pressure on our faith. These things deny our humanity. (2 Corinthians 1:8; Matthew 26:36-46.) 

I urge everyone to cultivate the remembrance of good in your life. Was someone kind? Thank them, and tuck that kindness in your heart, you might need it someday. Remembering helps us to keep on pressing on. Bye. 👋.

P 3418 Father God has a plan.    

/ DVH

“For if you choose self-sacrifice, giving up your lives for My glory, you will discover true life. But if you choose to keep your lives for yourselves, you will lose what you try to keep.” Luke 9:24 TPT.  This verse is a revealed part of Almighty God’s plan for our lives. Iron sharpens iron, one scripture throws light upon another. We must eat it all, not just the bits we like, or think we need.

The life of God within us is designed to grow, flourish and prosper. “Beloved, I pray that in every way you may succeed and prosper and be in good health [physically], just as [I know] your soul prospers [spiritually].” 3 John 1:2. But if we happen to be ill or infirm, that is not necessarily an indication that something is wrong with our souls. We need to look at this verse very carefully. This is something John prays for the people he is writing to —he is praying a blessing over them and us.

I’ve watched dear Christian friends nearly turn themselves inside out trying to find out the reason they are sick. Let’s be quite clear – nobody likes being sick! But sadly sometimes our focus can shift over onto the illness and being healed, and it moves away from the Lord Himself. It is as if we feel God is withholding health from us and we don’t know why. I don’t know why either, but I do know God will not withhold any good thing from us! His plans are beyond our imaginings. My own personal experience cannot ever negate what He says — so I must be thinking amiss. 

The thing is, we need His definition of good not ours. Let’s remember it pleased our Heavenly Father to crucify His dear Son on our behalf. That was God’s plan! Imagine doing that with your child for billions of totally ungrateful people who don’t love You or appreciate You, and now they use His Name as a swear word! If our focus goes off following Jesus and being grateful for all He has done for us and given to us … we may easily start rabbiting around in the corners of our minds looking for reasons why we are not well. We can lose our peace! Father God does not mean for us to live in confusion and conflict – He has provided a way through. A different way to think.

“Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.” Psalm 127:1a. Unless the Lord tells you how to chase that bunny rabbit of healing, you are missing out on the best part. The best part is always getting closer to Jesus! The bible says He is close to the broken-hearted. That’s God’s plan. Please don’t let what you don’t have, steal what He has already given you. Instead, start thanking Him for what you can see you have.

Part of His plan includes my obedience, if He says ‘come,’ I come — if He says ‘go’ I go. When we came to know Jesus, He saved us. Yet it is far too easy to forget that we gave our lives … this life, right here and now … AWAY. My only real sane choice is to obey, which means my feelings of inadequacy and helplessness aren’t the only reality. The way I regard what Jesus does in my life, is my gift to Him. I choose to yield to His plan, believe in His goodness. That doesn’t rely upon circumstances, it relies upon Who He is.

I know, that you know, that there is no sickness in heaven. Our problem is, we tell ourselves that being well will make it easier for us to serve Him, so we need to get well so we can serve Him better. That’s a terrific argument. But there are times when we need to focus on loving and serving Him, no matter what else is going on. You or I might meet someone in the next hospital bed who needs to hear from Jesus, and that person won’t go anywhere near a church. Paul was yielded to the Lord, yet he still went into jail – unfairly! But then he ministered to the guards and wrote those letters that still bless us today.

Let’s look at the people Jesus openly admired, because they show us His Ways aren’t like ours. The Lord honoured a tiny little old lady who gave two pennies. (Mark 12, Luke 21) There was a non-believer who knew more about submission and faith than most Christians do, and Jesus praised that man for it. (Matthew 8:9) And a fallen woman who washed His dirty feet with her tears. (Luke 7) Plus a tree-climbing tax collector who was so changed he gave away more than the law demanded as recompense for his thievery. (Luke 19). Not to mention a leprous man from another country who knew how to say thank you. (Luke17).  The Lord doesn’t think like we do.

Those people in the above scriptures didn’t know much about anything but pain, poverty, isolation, suffering and rejection, but they knew they needed Jesus’ help and they submitted themselves to Him. “My (Our) help comes from the Lord Who made heaven and earth.” (Psalm 121:2) Choosing Him above the things in this life that will make our lives easier, is always the right choice. The Lord didn’t promise us, sunshine, lollipops and rainbows – He promised He would be with us in trouble.

Because we love the Lord we can have an abundance of His Love, wisdom, peace and joy in our lives in spite of our circumstances. Believe me, TRUE PEACE is better than a Maserati! He’s always doing something, we just don’t always know what it is. Meanwhile I often think we undervalue the importance of having enough. Father God always has a plan, that plan is to bring out the best in us and the people who live around us. It’s a good plan! Bye 👋 .

P 3300 We rely upon Him.

/ DVH

Lately I have been thinking about the kind of things that that can keep us from walking in everything Jesus died to give us. Unfortunately, discouragement can send God’s kids into despair. Some of us are physically, mentally, or spiritually ill. I want to point out that the lack of an overcoming, miraculous testimony, is not a sin. 

I know some brave, persevering souls who soldier on in the faith, even when everything is not quite so hunky-dory at their house! Sometimes we relegate those people who don’t have an amazing testimony of a miraculous cure, or life-turn around – onto the back burner. Do that at your own peril. These people have been smacked about by circumstances, yet they have learnt to cling to Christ like a limpet. In a storm, they know how to stand on their faith.

It is sad to assume that because these people are physically, or mentally impaired, obviously they have nothing they can contribute. Or perhaps we think we shouldn’t bother them because they are already burdened. In my heart of hearts, I have such a passion for these brave souls, who turn up Sunday by Sunday, simply because they love Him, they love His Presence, and they love the joy of fellowship. When it comes to testimony time, their simple contributions breathe out trust and faith in His goodness.

Maybe they’ve persevered for another day, week, or month, in a marriage that clearly is not working for them. God loves it when we do things in obedience, despite our feelings to the contrary. We might think that a real testimony is about a joyful reconciliation and restoration, but a true soldier of the Lord continues to fight and love the other person even when wounded and under fire. Maybe some other person has their precious child missing, and they don’t know if that son or daughter is alive or dead. So they stand at their door daily, not just actively waiting for the return of their child, but steadfast in their belief of God’s goodness.

We are encouraged in the bible, to weep with those who weep! Our God is a Father, He longs to comfort His children. The thing that becomes incredibly important when you are sidelined by illness, or adverse circumstances is looking after our faith. Faith takes a battering when we don’t get well immediately … or the problems continue over a long period of time. Pray for, and with these people, they need your support.

The Lord was incredibly compassionate toward those who were suffering, no matter what the cause was, even if it was the person’s own sin. Jesus is always truly kind and gentle with the sick. Compassion is a sorely needed heart-action toward those who are living their Christian lives suffering. These dear people live holding their breath, wondering when that next attack, or relapse might happen. But they go on to rebuke those thoughts, and focus on Jesus instead. They already know that focussing on the suffering makes it bigger. 

These people are not second-class Christians! The perfectly well, the happily married, the parents with kids who are model children, can never be the criteria. Jesus is! And He loves mankind. He paid for every bit of sickness, disease, unfaithfulness, sinfulness, and suffering in the whole world, and so that love for this world must become the motivation for everything we do toward others. 

In John 8:11 He says something so beautiful when He asks where a woman’s accusers have gone. “She answered, No one, Lord! And Jesus said, I do not condemn you either. Go on your way and from now on sin no more.” And John 9:3 says this about a blind man: “Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but it was so that the works of God might be displayed and illustrated in him.” The Lord’s answer could easily jump all over a lot of people’s theology, yet at the same time it highlights our God’s sovereignty and utter faithfulness. God is not interested in our formulaic approach to faith, He treats each person individually, so we dare not treat any one of them as a member of a herd. 

When we make healing into some sort of proof that we are saved and going on with Jesus – we are in error. Our efforts to simplify our faith, can result in over-simplifying it, by attributing blame when there is no blame. And even if we can see blame, who are we to judge? Most of the time these things are just part of this sinful world.. However, we can’t ever afford to stop praying and believing for miracles, healing and we need to do so with compassion. That’s why Christ came here in the first place. 

Jesus never tolerated illness or the demonic, so that’s the position we need to occupy too.  But at the same time,  let’s actively support the person who is suffering. We are oversimplifying the Lord’s work when we claim that nobody should ever be sick, and there must be some hidden sin in the life of the sick person.

Sometimes, because that person is so desperate for their blooming awful lives to change, we can actually harm them with our unbounded enthusiasm for the wonderful things God does. I’ve seen this scenario happen many times. Someone prays, announces that the person is healed, and walks away leaving the sick person feeling condemned. The person prayed for now feels that they are letting God down if they aren’t healed. People lose their faith in these circumstances. People should feel loved after any kind of prayer.

Always pray as the Lord leads you to pray, but please … don’t leave the person in need, worse off than they were before! That is devastating. Let’s remember we rely upon Almighty God, Who is always good!  Bye. 👋

P 3098 Be yourself …

/ DVH

… and don’t climb on the feelings train! That stuff will transport you from one nightmare scenario to another. I actually think there are little demonic ‘scribes’ that follow us around chucking pieces of worrying, fearful, nasty, ghastly info into our brains to distract us from the Lord and His purposes. Please remember that one of His purposes is deliverance from nasty little demon scribes!! It is a lie that “you” are a worry-wart. Jesus wouldn’t have told us not to do it if it didn’t matter.

We can spend ages majoring on minor things, worrying if this or that will work out the way we want it to. RELAX! God’s got us – ps it probably won’t work out the way you want it anyway … it will be better!  Let’s remember Who He is! The immortal invisible only wise God! Yeah! HIM!! He only made the world and everything in it. That thing you are worried about probably won’t happen, and if it does then you and the Holy Spirit will tackle it together. “If God be for us who can be against us?” Romans 8:31. Think on that instead. Jesus summed worry up beautifully when He asked this question:“Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” Matthew 6:27. Let’s hope nobody gets stuck on that answer!

You know it seems to me that lately we have all turned into billy goats … “butt,  butt … my life is a mess.” Like God Himself doesn’t know what’s going on. If the answer is hidden from you it is hidden for a reason. He’s got you, you are always on His heart, and He doesn’t take time off for high days and holidays!! Worry etc always seems like it is doing something, but that stuff will give you wrinkles on your face, indigestion, constipation, or the opposite, and mess with your well-being and brain. Treat it like someone is handing you a worm and say: “No, thank you.”

Just recently I gave someone a birthday card and realised the envelope I had for it wasn’t what I thought it was. I had to give the card without any envelope because the one I had was covered in one of those “Where’s Wally” pictures. But it was ultimately a clever piece of marketing that was advertising some plumber or other. I wasted an hour trying to find WALLY! And another one worrying about the lack of an envelope!  How dumb can you get and still breathe? When we worry we are making Father God too small to help us.

Our time is not just valuable because we are some clever business person making business deals, or someone who cares for the sick, elderly and infirm. Or maybe you drive a school bus, or you are home caring for little ones. Your time is valuable because this very second will not come back again. One of satan’s favourite ploys is to get us tied up in knots about the things we cannot change anyway. Pray, then give it all up to the Lord. Walk away. Not from the people, but from the temptation to think you just might come up with a solution. The Lord can interrupt people’s thoughts. He once threw Paul off a donkey – well, it was probably an angel, but you get my point!

This life is like trying to untangle a fine silver or gold chain, the more you tug on it, and wiggle this bit, and slide that one through this hole over here—  the tighter the knot gets. Put it down. Your time is worth far more than losing sleep or feeling mentally weary … God left you here on this earth for a purpose. Sometimes I think our  purpose is to not be worried no matter what is going on around us – what a witness that would be!! 

I know awful things happen to people, they happen to me too. I have to drag myself around feeling beaten up and broken, and I crawl or stagger into His Presence. There are days that I simply have to insist that Jesus is bigger than the problem. That torment means the thief is on the premises – fight the thief. Don’t let him take your peace. Over the last few years Christians seem to have accidentally made experiences with God the criteria for relating to the Lord. No experience means God did not show up. That’s actually in direct contradiction of His Word. 

We all know that verse in Hebrews 13:5: ”Let your character [your moral essence, your inner nature] be free from the love of money [shun greed—be financially ethical], being content with what you have; for He has said, “I will never [under any circumstances] desert you [nor give you up nor leave you without support, nor will I in any degree leave you helpless], nor will I forsake or let you down or relax My hold on you [assuredly not]!” When God says NEVER He means NEVER! As in not ever. He’s there, right there, with you, right now, whether you feel Him or not! 

Right now in OUR world, people are living in places where there is no water, no house, no food, and bombs are falling out of the sky. Families have been shattered. Grief has become a way of life. The thing is – trouble bashes on everyone’s door. But in the Western world we can get persnickety if we break a nail or we need to call the plumber. I am ill most days, hubby has all kinds of nasty pain in his joints, so ordinary things are extremely difficult to do. But we’ve found if we obey God when He asks us to do this or that the pain matters less than the joy we feel when we see God reach into someone’s life. 

When we were away we went to a market. There were lots of people. However, I dislike markets because …lots of people go there!! In a wheelchair you get handbags in the face, and people walk so incredibly irrationally you have to swerve or stop, and the footpaths are uneven and … and … most people talk to hubby not me. Apparently your brain falls out when you get into a wheelchair. Hey ho! A-ny-w-ay!! We stopped at a jewellery stall, and we talked to the stall-holders. 

The short story is this — that beautiful young Turkish woman owner rushed across the stall and gave me the biggest hug like ever! Boy that will put icing on your bun trust me! People are hungry for real – BE YOU! Bye.👋

P 2714 “Blessed are they who mourn …”

/ DVH

In the Western world we have weird ideas about mourning and loss. We treat it like it is a terrible flu or something and other people stand by patiently waiting for you to get over it. If only. As if someone else knows how much grief is enough for you! The loss of someone close is not just a small thing – it can be devastating. I love the fact that in the Eastern parts of this world grief is allowed to be expressed, and passion for another person is not pushed away when they leave this world. Instead grief is expressed – loudly. I think that is quite healthy. Jesus told us that mourning is a blessing, so perhaps we need to revise our way of thinking. Grief is something we must go through, not avoid.

Grief comes in many different forms and has many different causes, like losing a career you love. Maybe you have been forced into a severely financially straightened life-stye. Perhaps you have been injured or ill, and you’ve lost your old way of life and you have to reinvent yourself. Or a much loved child has wandered so far away from everything good, right and worthwhile – you cannot even allow yourself to think about it… so your prayers turn into groaning. The bible says this for people who are so grief-stricken they can’t pray: “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.” Romans 8:26.

Thank God He is praying for us when we cannot!

There are also times that we can be suddenly dragged under into grief by things that have happened to people we love. Truly loving people means we share their sorrow. At the same time, other people’s actions and attitudes can also cause much grief. Or we can be greatly misunderstood personally, and not able to explain ourselves, and that causes the terrible pain of grief as well. Bin there, dun that! I think of grief as some sort of emotional drowning, and the surface of the water – where the fresh air is – seems too far away to reach and unachievable. Maybe we will never reach the surface again – that thought causes even more grief! Whatever the cause, grief, sorrow and suffering are all a reality, and we can get stuck there.

I have observed that grief weakens even the strongest people. I’ve known people who could not find their way out of a grief cycle. It was as if their grief was a terrible burden that horrible circumstances had tied to their backs. So they clung like mad to what they had lost, because their grief was all they had left! I’ve also known other people who carried their grief as proof of their love for someone else who has long since gone to their reward. Grief then becomes an unnatural tie that cannot easily be dealt with or resolved. How long is long enough to grieve?  I have no idea. I can only say that we need to pass through this process, one step at a time. If we hurry grief, we run the risk of postponing it – only to have it grab us by the throat unexpectedly.

What does God say about it? Actually grief made an appearance in the garden of Eden! We barely get to Chapter 6 of Genesis when this verse appears:“And the LORD regretted that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him to His heart.” It is too easy to pass off the Lord’s grief over mankind’s sin as something that He can absorb, because, after all – He’s God! But this verse teaches us something about Him, and us. The bible tells us that we are made in His image and we have shared characteristics with our Heavenly Father. That one line in Genesis shows us that under some circumstances, grief is normal – He feels it … we feel it. You can experience it after you have been betrayed. 

In Isaiah 53:4 it tells us that we can have grief because of our sin. “Yet it was our weaknesses He carried; it was our sorrows that weighed Him down. And we thought His troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for His own sins!” Grief can be misunderstood, because our society hates pain of any sort – even the natural pain of aging! Unfortunately then we can easily miss the point of any grief we feel because of our own sin. That kind of grief is good. Grief, sorrow and suffering lead us to repentance. But at the same time we need to realise that because we feel those things, it means we have a tender heart.

In Matthew 5:4 Jesus says: “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” And in Revelation 21:4 the bible says this: “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

These two verses tell me that Almighty God has a plan for those who are not completely comforted in this life. One day He will wipe all those tears away, forever. That’s how important our grief is to Him – He has a plan and He will deal with it. We know that even Jesus Himself stood outside Lazarus’ tomb and wept – yet only minutes later, that man was resurrected. Personally, I see what happened to Lazarus as a sign that dead to this world is not really dead. People may be gone from this life, but they are not just plain GONE. We are eternal beings, made to live forever!

Lastly I want to mention a verse in Ephesians 4:30 that has great meaning for each of our lives because it involves the most sensitive and dearest Person Who truly cares for us: “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by Whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” The Holy Spirit totally understands grief, because people grieve His precious heart every single day. Seeking to cultivate His company is the greatest privilege we have been given, why would we cause Him unnecessary pain? We are blessed when we mourn, we learn that we are limited beings who need Him. 👋