WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:12.160 Are you in the middle of a very difficult season? 2 00:00:12.160 --> 00:00:18.120 We're celebrating the holidays, and it's a wonderful, incredible time of year. 3 00:00:18.120 --> 00:00:24.480 But for many, millions and millions of people, this isn't going to be an easy time of year. 4 00:00:24.480 --> 00:00:29.660 But we have a promise, and that is God is near to those that are grieving, and this 5 00:00:29.660 --> 00:00:33.920 too shall pass. 6 00:00:33.920 --> 00:00:38.360 I want to share some promises with you today from the Word of God. 7 00:00:38.360 --> 00:00:43.520 And you know, when we go through difficult things, there are generally three questions 8 00:00:43.520 --> 00:00:49.920 that kind of pop up on the radar when we're processing our trust in God. 9 00:00:49.920 --> 00:00:53.280 And the first one is, is God good? 10 00:00:53.280 --> 00:00:54.400 And God is good. 11 00:00:54.400 --> 00:01:00.580 There are times we go through things that we don't think that He's good, but after we 12 00:01:00.580 --> 00:01:05.920 get into the other side of it, we see His goodness and mercy. 13 00:01:05.920 --> 00:01:09.360 Another question that we typically ask is, does He really love me? 14 00:01:09.360 --> 00:01:13.120 If He loved me, how could this happen? 15 00:01:13.120 --> 00:01:18.280 And we remember, we live in a fallen world, and we are surrounded by evil. 16 00:01:18.280 --> 00:01:24.200 And there are things that are not of God that happen to good people. 17 00:01:24.200 --> 00:01:28.240 But if you will take it to Him, and if you will trust Him with the pain, He's going to 18 00:01:28.240 --> 00:01:30.760 walk it through with you. 19 00:01:30.760 --> 00:01:34.640 And the third one is, does He know I'm really grieving? 20 00:01:34.640 --> 00:01:42.400 And if you invite Him into the process, it can be one of the most beautiful and intimate 21 00:01:42.400 --> 00:01:44.760 times you'll ever have with the Lord. 22 00:01:44.760 --> 00:01:53.680 And I can say that that is honestly kind of what I experienced when I lost my mother. 23 00:01:53.680 --> 00:01:55.200 It was devastating. 24 00:01:55.200 --> 00:01:59.160 I was in so much unbelievable pain. 25 00:01:59.160 --> 00:02:03.200 It was a pain I'd never experienced before in my life. 26 00:02:03.200 --> 00:02:10.080 And I just kept over and over again just crying out to Him in humility. 27 00:02:10.080 --> 00:02:16.120 And I will say that there are moments in the hospital, tangible moments, where the presence 28 00:02:16.120 --> 00:02:20.240 of God came so heavy that I knew He was with me. 29 00:02:20.240 --> 00:02:22.000 I didn't like what was happening. 30 00:02:22.000 --> 00:02:23.000 I was hurting. 31 00:02:23.320 --> 00:02:24.320 I was upset. 32 00:02:24.320 --> 00:02:27.200 I was devastated. 33 00:02:27.200 --> 00:02:35.680 But I also remember that in the middle of my devastation, He brought such peace. 34 00:02:35.680 --> 00:02:42.400 And His presence was so strong that it's what carried me to the other side. 35 00:02:42.400 --> 00:02:46.320 I've got some beautiful promises for you today, and I just want to read a couple of them with 36 00:02:46.320 --> 00:02:47.320 you. 37 00:02:47.320 --> 00:02:55.040 Psalm 125.4, Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 38 00:02:55.040 --> 00:02:57.680 The Holy Spirit is our comforter. 39 00:02:57.680 --> 00:03:02.080 He comes to us and He heals our broken heart. 40 00:03:02.080 --> 00:03:10.840 Psalms 126.5 says, Those who sow in tears will reap with shouts of joy. 41 00:03:10.840 --> 00:03:12.760 Take your pain to Him. 42 00:03:12.760 --> 00:03:14.840 Let Him turn it for good. 43 00:03:14.840 --> 00:03:22.680 Psalms 147.3 says, The Lord heals the brokenhearted, and He binds up their wounds. 44 00:03:22.680 --> 00:03:31.720 Psalm 34.18, The Lord is close to the brokenhearted, and He saves those who are crushed in spirit. 45 00:03:31.720 --> 00:03:37.600 First Thessalonians 4.13 talks about how the people of God do not grieve like the rest 46 00:03:37.600 --> 00:03:41.160 of the world because they don't have any hope. 47 00:03:41.160 --> 00:03:44.320 Our hope is eternal hope. 48 00:03:44.320 --> 00:03:49.920 Our hope is knowing that we are going to go on to the other side. 49 00:03:49.920 --> 00:03:53.680 We are going to see those that we love again. 50 00:03:53.680 --> 00:03:54.920 Heaven is real. 51 00:03:54.920 --> 00:04:00.760 Jesus died on the cross for our sins, and we're going to have eternal life with Christ 52 00:04:00.760 --> 00:04:01.760 forever. 53 00:04:01.760 --> 00:04:07.840 One of the books that I have read that have actually helped me process grief is one by 54 00:04:07.840 --> 00:04:12.440 Randy Alcorn, and Randy Alcorn is one of my favorite authors. 55 00:04:12.440 --> 00:04:15.440 This man is an incredible writer. 56 00:04:15.440 --> 00:04:21.120 How he breaks down heaven is from a theological standpoint, not from necessarily I've gone 57 00:04:21.120 --> 00:04:26.080 to heaven and had an experience, but he really breaks it down in terms of what does the Bible 58 00:04:26.080 --> 00:04:29.560 say about heaven and eternity. 59 00:04:29.560 --> 00:04:36.040 For me, when my heart was broken, and I was devastated, and I was wondering about life 60 00:04:36.040 --> 00:04:42.800 on the other side, meditating on heaven and the reality of heaven and the biblical heaven 61 00:04:42.800 --> 00:04:48.840 that we are all going to experience one day brought so much peace. 62 00:04:48.840 --> 00:04:53.520 It's really now one of my favorite books. 63 00:04:53.520 --> 00:05:00.000 When he comes to you and he heals that heart in you, you have the ability to go on. 64 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:05.760 and strengthen you know your faith in him because he's he's been invited into 65 00:05:05.760 --> 00:05:12.680 the process. The unhealthy way to process grief is to try to numb it or run from 66 00:05:12.680 --> 00:05:17.800 it and if you try to numb it you know most people will take some sort of 67 00:05:17.800 --> 00:05:27.000 substance to to numb that pain and then that can turn into a life-altering 68 00:05:27.000 --> 00:05:33.240 devastating form of addiction and I want to encourage you please don't go there 69 00:05:33.240 --> 00:05:40.400 because your addiction isn't going to just destroy you it's going to destroy 70 00:05:40.400 --> 00:05:47.400 the people that you love the most. It affects everyone that's in your life 71 00:05:47.400 --> 00:05:56.320 please please don't take your pain to a substance that can't really heal the 72 00:05:56.320 --> 00:06:03.400 inner part of you the spiritual reality of you who you are your spirit man Jesus 73 00:06:03.400 --> 00:06:10.000 that is in you the Holy Spirit that dwells in you is the real source of 74 00:06:10.000 --> 00:06:18.320 healing not some sort of artificial substance that could somehow numb the 75 00:06:18.320 --> 00:06:23.880 pain for maybe a couple hours and then you're kind of right back where you left 76 00:06:23.880 --> 00:06:33.200 it isn't healthy and it can really do some serious damage. God is faithful and 77 00:06:33.200 --> 00:06:38.600 he will lead you into his word and he will lead you through promises. Another 78 00:06:38.600 --> 00:06:44.760 season in my life that was painful was when I lost my grandfather and I had a 79 00:06:44.760 --> 00:06:50.640 friend of mine who had purchased for me a Thompson chain Bible and I remember 80 00:06:50.640 --> 00:06:57.000 sitting on my front porch 3600 Jackson Street Sioux City Iowa and opening up a 81 00:06:57.000 --> 00:07:00.040 Bible I really didn't know how to read and I didn't really understand it and I 82 00:07:00.040 --> 00:07:04.680 didn't know where these scriptures were and I I didn't I didn't really 83 00:07:04.680 --> 00:07:11.120 understand God at all but I began to go into these scriptures and I read in the 84 00:07:11.120 --> 00:07:18.880 back in the topical areas certain subjects and the Holy Spirit began to 85 00:07:18.880 --> 00:07:26.840 speak to me and calm me and comfort me and probably one of the most holy things 86 00:07:26.840 --> 00:07:33.160 my friend did for me when I was hurting so bad was he just let me process my 87 00:07:33.160 --> 00:07:42.360 grief. The greatest comfort we have is in each other if you are processing grief 88 00:07:42.360 --> 00:07:52.720 right now or if you know someone who is grieving just being there just listening 89 00:07:52.720 --> 00:08:00.560 just allowing them to talk even if it's nonsense like I was I was saying all 90 00:08:00.560 --> 00:08:06.040 kinds of nonsense and you know my friend just kept reading me more scriptures and 91 00:08:06.040 --> 00:08:11.800 talking to me about heaven and sharing with me the reality that as I look 92 00:08:11.800 --> 00:08:17.640 back on it now that loss became one of those major turning points in my life 93 00:08:17.640 --> 00:08:27.400 that turned for good. That is who God is. He will use people in our life. He will 94 00:08:27.400 --> 00:08:34.880 use those that are around us to comfort us, to encourage us, to show us 95 00:08:34.880 --> 00:08:40.919 unconditional love and to help us process something that is truly 96 00:08:40.919 --> 00:08:50.560 devastating. We have a promise in the word that he will and it comes from 97 00:08:50.560 --> 00:08:57.880 Isaiah 26 3 and this is from Lindsay Van Zael's Kingdom podcast in Hebrew it 98 00:08:57.880 --> 00:09:04.720 means shalom shalom meaning complete wholeness nothing missing nothing broken 99 00:09:05.400 --> 00:09:15.040 this is who you are in Christ and today that is our promise he is our peace he 100 00:09:15.040 --> 00:09:23.920 heals our brokenness he pulls us back together he binds our wounds and we find 101 00:09:23.920 --> 00:09:33.720 total peace in him shalom shalom he is your peace thank you today and you know 102 00:09:33.720 --> 00:09:41.520 as you process this pain and this grief with God don't think for one moment that 103 00:09:41.520 --> 00:09:50.600 others are not watching you your your ability to process this pain and this 104 00:09:50.600 --> 00:09:55.480 grief is being observed by people you don't even know you can't even 105 00:09:55.480 --> 00:10:01.880 comprehend but they're watching you as you go through the heartache 106 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:06.280 As you go through the discouragement, they're watching you read the word, they're watching 107 00:10:06.280 --> 00:10:14.840 you meditate on heaven, they're watching you do things that are healthy and whole. 108 00:10:14.840 --> 00:10:16.920 And it's ministering to them. 109 00:10:16.920 --> 00:10:23.600 You know, our loved ones who are now in eternity, watching from the grandstands of heaven, according 110 00:10:23.600 --> 00:10:25.560 to the book of Hebrews. 111 00:10:25.560 --> 00:10:30.200 They are cheering us on in our race. 112 00:10:30.200 --> 00:10:37.960 And I can promise you, they do not want you to live in a state of grief. 113 00:10:37.960 --> 00:10:42.820 They want you to continue the good fight. 114 00:10:42.820 --> 00:10:45.040 They want you to stand. 115 00:10:45.040 --> 00:10:50.240 They want you to stand for Christ because they've got the victory. 116 00:10:50.240 --> 00:10:51.240 They're at peace. 117 00:10:51.240 --> 00:10:53.040 They're on the other side. 118 00:10:53.040 --> 00:10:58.960 They are cheering us on. 119 00:10:58.960 --> 00:11:05.040 And we have victory in Jesus and you have victory in Jesus. 120 00:11:05.040 --> 00:11:09.780 And my friend, that is my prayer for you today. 121 00:11:09.780 --> 00:11:11.120 Take it to Christ. 122 00:11:11.120 --> 00:11:12.560 Let him heal you. 123 00:11:12.560 --> 00:11:14.280 He is a good God. 124 00:11:14.280 --> 00:11:16.200 He will restore you. 125 00:11:16.200 --> 00:11:18.320 He is near to you. 126 00:11:18.320 --> 00:11:20.200 He does love you. 127 00:11:20.200 --> 00:11:23.240 And his plans for you are for good and not for evil. 128 00:11:23.240 --> 00:11:27.720 He's going to give you a future and a hope. 129 00:11:27.720 --> 00:11:28.280 Have a great day.