His Encouragement #130

Welcome to His Encouragement Thursday! I don’t know about you, but Thursdays are my struggle day of the week. By Thursday, I have already been working hard at school and at home, and I just wish it would hurry up and be Friday already. LOL! I definitely need a little extra Jesus time on Thursdays.

Trisha, my blogger friend at Joy of Reading, and I decided on calling this post “His Encouragement” because our real source of peace, strength, and security can only come from Jesus Christ. He and He alone is our constant! We pray and hope that these Thursday posts become a real encouragement to you and help you end your week strong in God’s love and purpose for you. God bless!

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Today’s Thursday Encouragement:

Grief means to be in “deep sorrow.” In reality, it means to constantly go through cycles of sadness. Some days the sadness is unbearable. It feels like a cloak hanging off of you. Other days it’s there but it’s subtle. Grief never really ever leaves a person who is truly devastated by a loss. The person just learns to adapt. But adaptation is exhausting.

This past Tuesday morning I had a dream about my dad. It morphed into thoughts of my good friend Tim and my best friend Lara. All three of these people were HUGE figures in my life, but now they are in Heaven with Jesus. My grief level on Tuesday morning after I woke up from these dreams was an 11 on a scale of 10. And, the grief never let up the whole day. I could feel sadness on me and it was heavy, oppressive, and overwhelming.

My real issue Tuesday was I didn’t know who to talk to about these BIG feelings. The three people I naturally turn to in order to vent are all dead. This just made the grief feel even bigger. In addition to total sadness, I realized a sense of abject loneliness. My go-to people are gone. Sure, I have other friends and family, but I can’t talk to them like I could my dad, Tim, and Lara. With my dad, Tim, and Lara it was always OK to be me. I didn’t have to put on a mask. They just loved me no matter what. But this is not the case with the people I have left in my life. I have to wear a mask (a metaphorical one). I have to pretend. I have to choose my words carefully. I can’t just be all of me.

So what does this week’s verse have to do with anything?

Well, I was feeling really low by Tuesday night so in desperation I turned to music. But that wasn’t working. So I turned to my Bible. I begged God to help me. To give me a break from the awful sadness and loneliness that was oppressing me. I don’t know how I got there, but I was led to Psalm 31. I’m telling you what, if you are in the throes of grief I highly recommend reading Psalm 31 ASAP. It’s glorious. It begins with David venting — real venting. He just lets it all out. His grief is palpable. But then he turns and acknowledges that God is the Boss. God is the Planner of all things. He is good, He sees His people, and He is a cover to those who need refuge from this frustrating, awful, devastating world.

Grief is ugly. It’s suffocating. I long to break free of its bonds. But the truth is, it’s not my place to break those bonds. It’s my job to follow David’s example and go to God. As David says in Psalm 31, “My times are in [God’s] hands.” God knows I need help. He longs to be my refuge in good times and bad because God is the greatest, most loving Father ever.

If you are struggling today with BIG feelings and it’s starting to get a little overwhelming, be like David — go to God. I promise, He will be your cover, your refuge, in this time of need!

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NOW, IT’S YOUR TURN!

WHAT BIBLICAL VERSE IS ENCOURAGING YOU TODAY?

Check out more Thursday Encouragement from my fellow blogger friends:

Trisha @ Joy of Reading

Jacquelyn @ A Heavenly Home

Jessica @ A Baker’s Perspective

Becca @ The Becca Files

Gina @ Stories by Gina

Rebecca @ Rev. Rebecca Writes

Andi @ Radiant Light

Leslie @ Words of Hope

Claudia @ Claudia Moser

Keneesha @ Women Loving God’s Way