Good Grief!

It is one of those nice Saturday mornings where I was able to sleep in and wake up to a quiet house. What a perfect time to blog!

There are two topics I have been thinking about; Grief and Sacrifice. I have chosen to write a few thoughts about grief. Why? Well because my Dad just came down and had coffee with me and it is what we started talking about!

Here are some thoughts. I would like to hear yours as well.

-Pain is not the point just like happiness is not the point. It is a part of life. My Dad and I were discussing whether we thought it was a bad thing to live with pain your whole life. What if a loved one died. Do you ever get over it? Do you need to get over it? One thing I firmly believe is that death was not meant to be. It reminds me again and again that we need a redeemer who redeems death for life.

-Lamenting is healthy and good. It is good to acknowledge the pain in our life and to allow time to mourn. Sometimes I feel guilty mourning something when I feel like it is silly, or not what God would be wanting me to put my focus on. However, I am I coming to think that it is healthy to even mourn in those situations because of point number three.

-We must invite God into our pain and hurt. I used to be very frustrated with the Psalms in the Bible. My goodness, could someone go through anymore emotions? A psalm can start with "God you are amazing!" to a few lines later, "Where are you God? Why have you abandoned me?". Here is poetry and contradicts in itself in the perception of what God is like.

However, I have changed my opinion on the Psalms. It is because I don't study them anymore. Instead, I look at them as being written by men who are inviting God into what they are feeling and thinking and most importantly how they are perceiving God.

The only way, I believe we will ever change is if we invite God into where we are right now. One of my favorite quotes is "it is the real my the Lord loves". Even if we are grieving the wrong thing or dwelling on the wrong area of our life, let the Lord be the one that changes it. Invite Him into the mess. Otherwise it will only be a fake change. It will be one out of us trying to will it to happen.

Do you have any thoughts to add? Do you disagree or agree? I am opening this up to discussion.