Category Archive

Openings.  They come in different forms.  When loss enters a life, it may seem as though life has closed rather than opened.  Grief does that.  It limits one’s sense of new possibilities and opportunities–but only for a time.  Grief has a way of sensitizing one to emotions, actions, memories, and choices, that nothing else can.  This sensitivity does allow for new openings.  Experiencing them takes time.
 
The Lord is the giver of life.  When endings in life come, there is still something new ahead. Grief may blur that truth for a time.  However, the Lord walks with those who grieve, and the Lord’s presence accompanies a griever to new life, new openings.  When one is ready to walk into areas of new hope, Jesus will be there.  Readiness for new openings and beginnings differs but the presence of Jesus remains steady.  He will be there.
 
Lord Jesus, You want life.  You want continuance.  You understand fully how grief can weigh down a spirit.  Yet, You companion with those who grieve and offer quiet hope for the future.  Thank You, Lord, for Your steady presence.  In Thee, Lord Jesus, Amen.

Sometimes life brings experiences that we can either run from or grow from.  Grief is one of those experiences that we may want to avoid.  But if wisdom is given proper place, then grief becomes a catalyst for growth.  Losses in life stretch us–emotionally, physically, mentally.  Because of them we are given to see who we might become. That may or may not be a welcome sight—at first.
 
With Jesus, every loss can be turned into something of benefit for spiritual growth.  But letting Jesus in to be part of that growth process, and trusting Him to redeem loss, is an act of faith.  Grievers often do not think there is much faith to invest but it is not personal faith one offers.  In such times of loss it is Jesus’ faith in you, in me, that matters.  His faith is needed to trust Him with the future; a future as close as the next hour.
 
Love of Life, You promised that those who will trust You will never walk without you.  Thank you, Lord, for making THE difference in times of loss and transition.  Because of You hope is real and the potential for growth is as close as Your breath.  In Thee, Lord Jesus, Amen.

It is unusual to consider grief a catalyst for growth.  When grieve comes into a life, it seems as though life stops.  But it does not.  It only gives the appearance of coming to a halt.  In actuality, personal character is further developed when a significant loss occurs.  Letting pain grow us, however, is a choice.  A choice to accept or to resist.
 
God expects us to grow.  Loss, life’s trials, and the unexpected turns in the road, are experiences that God can and does use to conform us more into Christ’s likeness.  But the choice to accept growth is daily.  When loss and grief enter a life, God knows this is a prime opportunity for faith to build and character to become more like that of Jesus.  Growth is available this week through grief.  Will growth be your choice?
 
Jesus, we need You.  You are the One, the only One, with the love deep and skillful to guide growth out of endings.  Thank You, Lord, for walking with those who grieve.  In Thee, Lord Jesus, Amen.

Ease is less likely to produce faith than trials will.  Trials are attention-getting.  They force a view of self that often requires adjustments.  Grief is a trial.  The kind of adjustments one makes during grief are spiritual, emotional, physical, financial, mental.  Even if changes are not wanted, if they are given to Jesus, He can use them in a meaningful way.
 
If you are suffering from a loss of some kind, expect life to be filled with unexpected emotional twists.  You are in a trial.  But the God of all comfort wants to accompany you through this time.  Will you let Him?  It takes a tiny bit of faith to say Yes to let Him walk with you.  But if you agree, you can expect the supernatural help of the Holy Spirit to come into your life to help you each day.  The choice is yours each dawn.  May you choose Jesus.  He wants to be with you.
 
Lord, trials hurt but You heal.  Lord, help those who hurt to open to You so that You can be the comfort needed, and be the reason why trials can have purpose.  Thank You, Lord, for Your steady presence that always want to be near to those who ache.  In Thee, Amen.

Time is a gracious element.  It may seem as though it is not but is the place where healing and answers have an opportunity to surface.  Sometimes loss and the attendant emotions of loss make one want to resist the passage of time or wish it way quickly.  However, humans are on God’s time table.  Therefore, whatever happens in the span of life has meaning and timing according to His wisdom and plan.
 
If time is challenging you in this particular season of your life, meditate on the Christ who loves you, who is with you, and who is already ahead in the future; a future as close as tomorrow.  Jesus knows the details of your days better than you do.  He has reasons for the unfolding of your hours that you cannot know nor are meant to.  Faith is always about dwelling in the unseen and unknown and cultivating trust.  Grief gives one the opportunity to see the faithfulness of God–at all times and through all seasons.
 
Lord, You are the Creator.  You are the Giver of all of our days.  Thank You, Lord, for what You have provided and for what You continue to provide.  Whatever this portion of time holds in this season, may deeper faith take hold as You hold those who grieve.  In Jesus’ living Name, Amen.

Effort is victory.  Satan would like nothing more than to defeat the efforts of Christ’s own by sending lies, indifference, and weakness into minds that are transferred to steps.  Grief weakens.  It takes away energy and motivation.  If one is not careful, grief can give Satan a foothold into a life and attempt to destroy witness and hope.
 
Jesus blesses effort.  The slightest will do.  The faith of a mustard seed is indeed enough.  Calling out the Name of Jesus is to have a mass of strength and power to shield and fortify.  Even if you do not FEEL strong in the battle of life when experiencing grief, the effort of calling His Name summons His power and you are at once empowered to carry on.
 
Lord of Life, we know that Satan is real and his tactics are many.  Satan will use human weakness and vulnerability to kill, steal, and destroy.  By the might of Thy Name, Lord Jesus, may Your Name fight for those weak due to grief or any other kind of life pain that lessens resolve.  May faith be bold in Thee in times when human strength fails.  How we trust You, Lord Christ, our Warrior, Amen.

Recognizing an ending is one thing.  Accepting it is another.  When we have miles to walk between a loss and integrating it into our lives, it is a challenge.  Grief takes us to places we never thought we would find ourselves; unusual places in emotion, location, and wonder.  Grief is a map of sorts but the problem is we often do not know where we are going until after a season of grief is lived out.
 
Grief does pass.  We do journey to a different place and time.  Life does take on new meaning and hope does come.  Jesus is all about hope and new beginnings.  He is all about life.  Because of the comfort of Jesus, we have the strength to carry on and the reason–God wants us to.  For now, that is enough.  It is all that is needed.  So even when days are challenging due to loss, know that belief in Jesus alone makes the day one of purpose and one of hope.
 
Lord Jesus, Your steady presence helps us in times of grief, lonliness, and wonder.  Help us to remember that You are always there, and that You will always be our sustaining strength to bring us to days of lightness and peace.  In Thee, Amen.

Commitments.  They define us.  If we are true to a commitment, it means that we can expect future decisions to be made based on an initial commitment.  That will sometimes be painful for it may mean other choices will need to be made in the interest of a commitment.  Those who have committed their lives to Jesus Christ, know that certain actions, habits, and people are no longer a part of one’s life.  Similarly, those who live in Jesus know that the blessings one yields from a relationship with Him cannot be matched in quality or measure by any other person or means.
 
Commitments cost us something.  When we feel a hurt due to a death of someone or something to which we have been committed, there can be deep pain when that ending comes.  But if one has tried to live up to that commitment while there has been opportunity to do so, conclusions that come–for whatever reason–are not filled with regret.  Endings in life bring a degree of melancholy.  The degree of it is determined in part by the manner in which we invested ourselves in someone or something while there was time.  Endings in life that produce sadness due to regrets give us the opportunity to pray to the Lord and ask for help to live differently in the future toward others.  We cannot change what has been.  But those who live in Jesus Christ possess the magnificence of His redemptive power to transform what has been and what shall be into peaceful acceptance.  
 
Lord Jesus, in You we live and move and have our being.  Thank You for the commitments made to You, to others, to our work and our callings.  Sometimes commitments require us to pass on other choices set before us, even apparent good choices.  Help us, Lord, to seek You for wisdom, strength, and courage to do all You would have us to do to make and keep commitments such so we know Your peace.  In Thee, Lord Jesus, Amen.

Opening up.  Grief is an experience that can force one to open up even if it seems as though one goes into a cocoon.  Grief sensitizes.  It provokes awareness.  What one becomes aware of may or may not want to be known or faced.  Yet, if it is the truth, it has the potential to heal and offer relief.

Jesus is the One who can take the truth and carry it when we cannot.  Jesus holds your heart and holds information and emotions such that He can manage the depth of that reality, and give you peace in the midst of making emotional adjustments to a painful truth.  Whatever loss may have brought you to grief and then to a truth that is hard to face, Jesus will be with you to and carry you by His strength.  Will you let Him?

Lord Jesus, You have the heart that can hold all the truths and pains that each one knows this side of Eternity.  Lord, it is Your desire that no one suffers alone.  By Your touch, may each one who hurts let You carry sorrow.  You remain the reason for hope.  In Thy Name Lord Jesus, Amen.

The events of 9/11 will be visited in memory and emotion this week as Americans and citizens of the world mark the tenth anniversary of that dark day.  While we consider with others where we were, what we were doing, and how our lives changed that day, we will likely be reminded of other personal losses that have happened in our lives in the past ten years.  There have been deaths, births, residence changes, divorces, graduations, and military deployments.   In these past ten years–through it all–God has been there.
 
Do you trust the presence of God in Christ, even when you cannot see or trace His presence?  He is there.  When weak times comes, when challenges are faced, His face stays fixed on you.  Jesus stays at your side, devoted and caring to your every need.  Sad events do not move the Lord of all time and place. He stays.  As you remember what happened on 9/11 and recall what happened since then in your life, remember that Jesus has been with you.  Maybe you know that because you have let Him in.  Or, maybe it is time to open the door of your heart to let Him come in. He wants to share life with you.  
 
Lord Jesus of Love, Your heart stays with people whether or not they invite you to join them in the walk of life.  Lord Christ, as we ponder what happened on 9/11 and what has happened in our lives since then, may each heart open to the presence of You so You may reconcile yesterday, today, and tomorrow.  In Thee, Amen.