Carrying Grief Into the Presence of God

Grief has a way of making us feel like we are failing at being human. We think we should be over it by now. We wonder if the sadness means we don't have enough faith. We hide the weight of it because we don't want to be a burden — or worse, because we're afraid that if we bring it to God, He won't know what to do with it.

Let me tell you something: grief is not a stranger to God.

Jesus wept at the tomb of Lazarus. He already knew He was about to raise him. He wept anyway. Not out of confusion or despair — but out of love, and because He was fully present to the pain of the people standing around Him.

He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. — Isaiah 53:3

Familiar with pain. Not distant from it. Not confused by it. Familiar.

Whatever you are carrying today — the loss of a person, a season, a version of your life you thought you'd have — you do not need to translate it into something more presentable before bringing it to Him.

Bring the weight of it. Bring the anger, if there is anger. Bring the confusion. Bring the days when it felt like too much and you didn't know how you kept going.

He has room for all of it. He is not overwhelmed by your grief. And He will not rush you through it.

You are allowed to take the time this takes. You are allowed to feel what you feel. And you are not alone in it — not for a single moment.