When we are in the midst of grief, it often feels as if we are all alone. But God reminds us that He will never leave us, even in times of sorrow. Today’s Bible Journaling Scripture comes from a situation where Jesus felt compassion upon a poor widow who lost her only son. As Jesus and the disciples walked in the town of Nain, a funeral procession passed them. “And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, ‘Do not weep.’” (Luke 7:13 ESV) Now, many of us would probably think, “What a thing to say, of course, she will weep! She just lost her only son!” But Jesus didn’t say this out of unconcern. No, He said this because He knew what He was about to do. The story says that Jesus touched the funeral bier and told the young man to rise, and the dead man sat up and began to speak.
Jesus felt compassion for the widow, because He knew her circumstances, and He reached out to her in her sorrow. The Enduring Word website states, “We are specifically told of the compassion of Jesus on this occasion. He instantly understood the situation and had sympathy upon the widow, giving her hope despite the tragedy of the situation.” In Jesus’ times, a woman had no rights. Everything of any value was to come from her husband or sons. Here was this widow, she’d already lost her husband and now her only son had died, and her future looked bleak. Jesus didn’t leave her in that situation, He stepped in and did something about it. He is with us also in the middle of our grieving. He understands what we are feeling because He also experienced grief when His friend, Lazarus, died. He knows the pain we feel. Even though Jesus knew He was going to raise Lazarus from the dead, He wept. (John 11:1-44)
What I have found is that when we are in our deepest point of grief, we are not alone! God is with us! He understands our feelings when we have difficulty working through our grief. Some may find it easy to express their grief, while others may find it very difficult. When I was grieving my first husband’s death, it hit me extremely hard. My grief was a mixture of great mourning, relief, anger, and uncertainty about the future, and I didn’t always handle it very well. I mourned my husband’s passing deeply but had difficulty with being able to deal with it. Partly, I was angry at him for getting sick and leaving me, partly there was relief because I no longer had caretaker responsibilities, partly I was scared about what lay ahead of me, and my feelings were all jumbled up into a ball, intertwining each other. Grief came out in the way I handled situations with some people. I didn’t tolerate people who acted childishly or made decisions that made no sense. I wasn’t a very nice person to be around in those instances. But Jesus helped me. He didn’t reprimand me for my behavior or banish me from His side. Instead, He drew closer to me and was very patient with my own childish behavior. It took me quite a while before I was able to manage those situations. It wasn’t until recently that I realized that my actions and attitude at that time needed His fine-tuning.
He proved to me that He understood, and He promised me that He would always be by my side. He used my life verse to reinforce that thought by giving me a mental picture of that verse. It says, “Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16 NASB 1995) The picture He gave me was not of a cold, austere, throne, but a nice, soft easy chair where my Heavenly Father sits. He is my Abba Father and He loves me! When I need Him close to me, He invites me to come and sit on His lap. He wraps His arms around me, and says, “Tell me all about it.” He sits and listens as I pour out my heart to Him, and He tells me that everything will be all right.
Always remember that God is with us in our grief. If you are grieving, Jesus sees you, understands your feelings, and is walking with you through the entire process. He wants you to know that you don’t have to try and deal with the grief all alone, He will help you. Even though you feel as if you can’t take one more step or deal with situations, He promises that He will never leave you. (Hebrews 13:5) In fact, when we feel as if we can’t even stand, He will carry us! (Isaiah 46:3-4)
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