Have you lost someone dearly that you love?
Well, it happens to all of us and unfortunately, recently in my family, we have lost someone
that we love dearly.
And today I just want to talk a little bit about grief and comfort.
The Holy Spirit is our comforter.
He's called the paraclete.
He comes alongside to help us when we are hurting, when we are grieving, and we're processing
loss.
And I can tell you from experience that that is when my love for God and my love for Jesus
becomes even dearer.
It's often when I'm going through something that is just so painful, I don't even know
how to process it.
My name is Leanne Friesman, and this is Restoring Word, and it's a short devotional that's been
designed just to encourage you and to speak life into you.
There are so many verses that deal with comfort in the Bible, and I think probably one of
the best ones comes right out of Psalms 23, and it's read a lot at memorial services and
funeral services.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, no evil will come me.
For you are with me, your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
I will fear no evil.
Isn't that a good word?
For you are with me, your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
The presence of God in your life is the ultimate form of comfort.
And so when you're hurting, the most important thing I can tell you to do is to run to Jesus.
Run to the Word of God.
Begin to meditate on the Word of God, and that really is the one place where you can
find comfort.
In John 15, 26, But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father,
the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he's going to testify of me.
The real comforter is Jesus, and Jesus will come by the Holy Spirit, and he will fill
your heart with hope and with life and with an eternal hope that you are going to see
your loved ones again.
First Thessalonians 4, 13, But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those
who have fallen asleep, which is how Thessalonians describes the first death, lest you sorrow
as those who have no hope.
The good news is because of Jesus and because of what he did on the cross for us, we are
going to have eternal life.
And I want to recommend a book to you today by Randy Elkhorn.
It's called Heaven by Randy Elkhorn, and I will say that this book is kind of my go-to
when I'm grieving.
This book does an in-depth study, a scriptural study, and really answers a lot of those questions
regarding heaven.
And when you're hurting and you're thinking about your loved one who is now in, honestly,
a much better place, they're no longer suffering, they're no longer in pain, going to the Word
of God and reading about where they are is truly the most comforting thing that you can
do.
And then I just kind of want to talk about some natural things about the grief process.
You're going to grieve.
There's a healthy way to do it, and there's an unhealthy way to do it.
And it's unhealthy to deny the process, okay?
You are going to grieve.
There are going to be moments where it's going to feel almost unbearable.
Run to Jesus.
It does get easier.
Maybe not immediately.
Maybe not right away.
But I can promise you, as you walk it out with Christ, day by day, event by event, it
is going to get better, I promise.
How can you process it?
Well, number one, of course, run to the Word, okay?
Number two, there are going to be times when the grief is going to be difficult, okay?
Be prepared for those times, birthdays, anniversaries, holidays.
Those firsts are often very difficult.
I can remember when my mom died
and I was going through my closet one day
and all of a sudden I was seeing all the beautiful clothes
that she had purchased for me
and it just hit me really hard.
There are going to be times
where something is going to trigger the hurt
and it's okay, it's okay.
It's normal, it's part of that process.
You're working it out and that's what's most important.
Second, I think being distracted
in a healthy way is helpful.
For me, it was helpful to go back to work.
It was helpful to meet with friends and family.
It was helpful to read and to do things
that were going to enable me to handle the grief.
It doesn't work that way for everyone,
but I would say, because honestly,
when I lost my mom, I would say there was probably
a good four to six months in there
that I look back now, I don't even remember.
That is your conscience's way
of kind of preserving you from the hurt.
There are things you're not going to remember.
There are things that are gonna kind of be numb.
It's okay, it's all right.
You're processing it.
You're gonna come out of it.
You're going to come out of this in Jesus' name.
So a healthy distraction, exercise,
sleep, a good book, a good movie.
Also, talking about the loved one.
There are times where you need to talk
and you need to reminisce and share those memories
with people who love you and support you
and who are gonna understand that you're in a process
and you do need to talk.
Another great suggestion is start a new tradition.
Find a healthy way to honor your loved one.
We started a foundation in honor of my mother
and it's growing.
Plant a tree, paint, write a poem.
Find something healthy that will honor the person
but also help you process your loss.
And knowing that you're doing it in a very healthy way.
Connect with other people that are around you.
Draw people around you that will help you process.
Being alone is not healthy when you're grieving.
You need to have that outlet.
And being alone and kind of being a loner
doesn't give you that opportunity to talk.
All of us need to have an outlet
because when you talk, you're healing,
as my husband likes to say.
When you're talking, you are healing.
And if you can get it out and you can get it
in a healthy way, the Holy Spirit then can use
what you're verbalizing to bring healing.
Now, when it becomes debilitating,
when it becomes something that shuts you down
where you can't function or you can't think,
then that's unhealthy.
That's not natural.
That is not, that's not God.
We have our eternal hope in Jesus.
Now, I know it gets hard when you're processing
the loss of someone and you don't necessarily
know where they are and that can be very hard.
But only God knows, really, ultimately.
And he is our comforter.
And he ultimately knows where they are.
So you can't be bothered by it.
You've gotta go on living.
And I think another thing that will also help you
is that your loved one that passed away
would not want you to just shut down and give up.
Your loved one would want you to go on
and to live a life of hope and health
and healing and to be productive.
Your loved one would not want you to just shut down
and not go on living.
Because their memory lives on inside of you.
And so when you go on and you are productive,
they live on through you in their memory.
Not spiritually, but in memory.
How they lived and what they did
and how they impacted others.
That lives on in how you live and in what you do.
The Holy Spirit is.
your comforter. He wants to comfort you. He wants to help carry the burden. The
definition for paraclete is one who comes alongside to help and that's
actually the what the comforter the definition for the Holy Spirit is that
word paraclete and I I like to liken it to someone who comes alongside and
carries the weight or carries the burden of the hurt for you that's what Jesus
does for you and you know when you when you grieve in a healthy way it really is
a testimony of the reality of Jesus in your life you know when when you're
hurting really really badly and and your faith in Christ is evident to others
that's how Jesus is honored and glorified and and I want to encourage
you today though you're brokenhearted he is your comfort he will carry the hurt
with you yes there's going to be moments where it's hurtful and it's painful but
like I said earlier it does get easier if you will meditate on the Word of God
and on the reality of heaven you can go on and live a happy productive life that
will truly honor and glorify the person that you lost and that you love the most
thank you for listening thank you for liking and subscribing to this channel
it helps me grow the channel and I look forward to talking to you again I am
going to make a broadcast about suicide and at that point I hope you will listen
as I talk about a very difficult topic thank you for listening and have a great
day