Biblical Advice for Grief

“God blesses those that mourn, for they will be comforted.” Matthew 5:4 (NLT) God knows you will experience grief in this life, but you’re not meant to go through it alone. Relying on God and others can relieve your sorrow. Ecclesiastes 3:1a-4 says: “To everything there is a time . . . a time to weep . . . a time to mourn, . . .” (KJV) John 11:35 says, “Jesus wept.” (KJV) Jesus felt deeply the pain of Lazarus’ death. I was raised in a culture where open grief was not normal. I recall standing by a family that had suffered a devastating loss to suicide. While viewing the casket, a little girl was weeping. A grandmother beside her was trying to comfort her by telling her not to cry. I can only imagine how the girl felt. From then on, she may have believed that it was not okay to cry. I have heard many stories of grief and loss as a counselor. Most often I hear symptoms such as, “It’s like something is stuck in my throat.” True sorrowing is a normal stage of grief, which is a deep gut cry. To cry is very therapeutic and brings an emotional release from pain. This taboo—“don’t cry”—was broken in my village years ago when we tragically lost a young man. During the wake service, the church was packed. A respected elder of the church got up and stated that we had suffered a devastating loss, “But it’s okay to cry.” It was like a dam broke—everybody was crying, from youth to adults. As one of the crisis workers, we didn’t know what to do. We tried to comfort everyone, then finally one of the workers said, “It’s okay, let them grieve.” Today, I am very grateful for the freedom to grieve with others and to comfort those that mourn. But most importantly, Jesus Christ is the greatest Comforter—He modeled grief by weeping. He is also the Healer. Psalm 147:3: “He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.” (KJV) – Liz Beardy   Council Fire is a collaboration with Intertribal Life Ministries and Native Evangelical Fellowship of Canada. The Council Fire Daily Devotional Book Set is available on the Intertribal Life Ministries website. Learn more about Council Fire at councilfire365.org