The words I kept hearing today as I was asking Him what to write were, “Grief and Grace.”
1Corinthians 15:10
But by God’s grace I am what I am, and his grace towards me was not in vain… (CJB)
Bad things happen. Death. Unexpected moves. Job loss. People we thought were friends stab us in the back.
These situations cause grief. The hurt is real. Tears will flow. Anger will come. So will depression. There are many different emotions that cause waves in our life.
I have to think of the movie “Inside Out”. The girl and her family move across the US and she has to start over. Anger, Joy, Fear, Disgust and Sadness. These are feelings she deals with as she starts over.
These events are part of life. Feelings are too. However, we all walk out the events and feelings differently.
Grief can take 2 weeks for some people. It might take a year for others. Men and women respond differently too. How do we handle situations like this? What does the Word of God say about how to respond in situations?
A command that is given several times is to, “give thanks.” It also says to, “fear not!” We know David shed tears. We also know David got angry and frustrated with himself and others.
BUT, what happens when others don’t respond in the same way you do? What happens when others continue in their grief longer than you think they should? How do you treat them? What do you say?
The Holy Spirit has been convicting me lately of GRACE. What does it mean to extend grace? How long does one extend grace? What does it look like within families when individuals all respond uniquely to the event(s) taking place?
I truly believe that grief and grace need to work together. In grief we must allow grace, for ourselves and for others. We must realize that feelings and emotions are part of grief and that we will all respond differently to situations we face. If we LISTEN to the Holy Spirit, He will guide us through the emotions and grief. He will also give us the grace to extend His love to others as they grieve.
If God can grant grace to you, how much more should we try to extend grace to others? I’m not saying let them live in sin, but sometimes grace means just walking away and letting God take care of the situation.
When we come to the realization that TRUSTING God to walk through life with us brings GRACE to our lives, than we can find REST in Him. We will RESTORE ourselves to Him. We are then REFRESHED to walk forward day to day.
~ Rose Horton
Rest, Refresh, Restore
I am super excited to welcome Rose Horton to the Restored Ministries Blogging Team!
Rose with Touched By Grace will be sharing each Friday new words of encouragement right here on Restored Ministries Blog.
Check out more of Rose on Touched By Grace YouTubeChannel
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