Overcoming Grief – Meeting It, Managing It and Mastering It

Grief is a part of the healing process when you have experienced any kind of loss.  Getting past that grief, whether it is over the loss of a loved one, a relationship or a job, and moving on with your life may leave you feeling like a stranger in a strange land.  The familiar may seem unfamiliar and the routine may become a challenge when you are filtering everything through the haze of sorrow and confusion brought on by grief.

You need to keep in mind that even during your moments of greatest sorrow, you are not alone.  Remember that you are eternally in the presence of God’s divine love, which fills any void temporarily left by grief.

“This is my comfort in my distress, that your promises give me life.”

- Psalm 119:50

There are experts who break down the stages of grief into six categories.  These can be very helpful when defining the various phases you go through as you adjust to traumatic events in your life:

-     Stage One:  Denial & Isolation

-     Stage Two:  Anger

-     Stage Three:  Bargaining

-     Stage Four:  Depression

-     Stage Five:  Acceptance

-     Stage Six:  Resurrection

While these six stages are an excellent way to gauge whether you are moving forward, there is another way to look at grief and how you handle it – a three-part process of meeting it, managing it and mastering it. These three phases allow you to process your grief in your life in clear, straight-forward ways that enable you to move forward with God’s help.

Meeting Your Grief

Meeting your grief is the process of letting it in and acknowledging it.  You need to get past the denial that you may go through in the early stages after something tragic has occurred.  You can’t cope properly with sorrow unless you are able to face it head-on, accepting it for what it is and how it is impacting your life.

Praying for God’s help as you face your grief will give you the strength to accept the loss and understand that you have the strength with His love to survive that loss.  There are many different kinds of loss that can be a source of grief.  Regardless of what they are, you must be able to meet them and look them square in the face and be able to embrace it, if not willingly, at least realistically.

Sometimes we deny losses in our lives for many months or even years rather than meeting them and acknowledging them.  Examples of loss like this include:  loss of trust, loss of love, marriage or a spouse, loss of virginity, loss of security, loss of acceptance, loss of friendship, loss of innocence, loss of education, loss of security, loss of a child or loss of employment.

When you are ready to let go of the festering pain that these losses are causing you, pray to the Lord and He will help you Meet Your Grief.  You will need to take that time to properly mourn.  You may cry for a while, or spend some time alone or talk with someone who understands your pain.  Whatever you need to do to allow the pain to be washed away is fine.  At that point, you have taken the first step toward overcoming your grief.

Managing Your Grief

Managing your grief means understanding how to live your life and move forward with grief as a part of the whole.  The Lord will give you the strength to integrate your sorrow into your daily living and learn how to slowly overcome the pain and depression that may have stopped you from moving forward before you met your grief.  Management is about being able to slowly let the normalcy of life back into your days and giving yourself permission to move on.   When your life begins to feel familiar to you once again, you are successfully managing your grief.

Mastering Your Grief

Mastering your grief is when you are able to move past it and overcome it.  You do not have to forget the past or lose the memories of what has happened, but you do have to overcome the power that the grief has to hurt you.  It is healthy to grieve a loss, but there comes a time for the mourning to end and new life to begin.

Mastering your grief can be difficult because you may feel guilty moving on, but God assures us that our lives are meant to have many different phases and nothing, including grief, is meant to last forever.  He has created a world for us that is meant to be celebrated even when bad things happen.

There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven…

a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance.

-Ecclesiastes 3:1-4

When you have a grief to cope with, remember that the Lord is always listening and will be there to give you comfort and support.  Pray for His help and you will find that the road toward meeting, managing and mastering your grief will be one you can travel with less sorrow than you would have expected.

Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father,

I know that in Your presence I will find everything that I ever need.  Thank you for your love, which is so great that You desire to restore my life in every way.

Thank you that I don’t have to live forever with sadness, hurt or depression.  I know that You will come to my aid in my time of sorrow and comfort me.  I have grieved the losses in my life, and I am so thankful that You have brought me to a place of peace and resurrection.  As I move forward to pick up the pieces of my life a divine transformation is taking place, and a new me is emerging while letting go of the hurt and the pain.

I choose peace this day and worship You, the God of peace and love.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen.

The indwelling love of God is our source of inspiration for overcoming grief. Thank You, God , for Your presence of love, life, and light.

Robert Moment is a Christian business coach, speaker and author of  newly published book, God Will Always Be There for You.  Robert is passionate about empowering individuals on how to experience God’s love, power , joy, peace, and prosperity. Visit http://www.ChristianInspirational.org and sign-up for the FREE Christian Living e-course.  Follow me on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/christiansfaith

Copyright © 2009 by Robert Moment. All rights reserved. You may forward this article in its entirety to anyone you wish.

Caregivers are God’s Precious Gift to Us

Caregivers are unique and special people and are a precious gift from the Lord.  They nurture others, provide solace during times of pain or turmoil, and help to shape our lives.  They provide great comfort, healing and understanding to those who need tenderness, attention and love.  In fact, caregivers are reflections of God in their example of sacrifice for others.

If you are a caregiver, you know that sometimes it can weight you down and wear away at your energy and mood.  But take heart in knowing that you are doing God’s work here on earth.  The good you do for others will come full circle, bringing you blessings in unexpected ways and from different people.  Sometimes it may seem that those blessings are in the distance, but rest easy knowing the God sees and loves your care for others because it is what He has commanded us to do:

“In everything do to others what you would have them do to you; for this is the law of the prophets.”
- Matthew 7:12

Being a caregiver is about putting others before yourself; something that isn’t always easy.  We are so tied to the earthly concept of taking care of ourselves and looking out for our own benefit that it can seem unfair to have to take care of others, particularly if there are problems the person we’re caring for brought on themselves.  But God doesn’t differentiate between people that way – He loves the sinner as well as the saint, and desires that we care for all people as His people.

When you feel like you are being dragged down by your responsibilities as a caregiver, remember that you are imitating Christ when you show humility and service to others.  These are the ideals of Christian living in action, and God will provide you comfort, even as you comfort others.  He will give you the strength you need to carry on and will not forget that you have lived in His image.

Caregivers often develop a special relationship with the Lord through their service.  Humbling yourself to the needs of others can bring you great spiritual insight – you realize the greatness of the sacrifice made for you through Christ, you understand the overwhelming love of the Lord, and you prepare yourself for heaven by bringing yourself closer to God’s ideal for all of us.

There is a traditional and much-loved hymn that demonstrates the soul of a caregiver.  The words express that attitude that God hopes each of us will have when confronted with someone’s need for a caregiver:

“I, who made the stars of night,
I will make their darkness bright.
Who will bear my light to them?
Whom shall I send?

Here am I, Lord. Is it I, Lord?
I have heard you calling in the night.
I will go, Lord, if you lead me.
I will hold your people in my heart.”

Answer God’s call to you when a caregiver is needed, and become one of His precious gifts to the world.  Your heart and soul will profit far more from your service than anything that you could ever lose.

“Finally, all of you, have unity of spirit, sympathy, love for one another, a tender heart, and a humble mind.”

- 1 Peter 3:8

Robert Moment is a Christian business coach, speaker and author of newly published book, God Will Always Be There For You.

Robert is passionate about empowering individuals on how to experience God’s love, power, joy, peace and prosperity. Visit http://www.ChristianInspirational.org and sign-up for the FREE Christian Living e-course.

Copyright © 2009 by Robert Moment. All rights reserved. You may forward this article in its entirety to anyone you wish.

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