Choosing to Wait for Hope When Grief Wrecks Our Hearts

For all our hopes this new year would be better than the previous 12 months, the first 27 days of 2021 are disappointing.

Such an understatement, right?

I texted with a good friend several days ago. Normal “how’s it going” stuff. And then a little while later these words appeared on my phone screen: got some really bad news.

A family friend – a teenager – died unexpectedly.

My friend: We r all shocked. Puffy eyed and stunned.

Me: Heart-wrecked.

So many of us are heart-wrecked these days. Continuing bad news, both in the headlines and in our homes, demolishes our emotions and leaves us stranded.

Grieving.

Fearful.

Incapable of moving ahead.

We need to be rescued.

Longing for rescue or longing to provide someone we love with rescue doesn’t mean we don’t allow ourselves time to mourn.

Rushing past our grief dishonors our loss. Ignoring someone else’s grief dishonors their loss, too.

Grief scares us because it overwhelms us like a wave that pulls us under, holds us down while we frantically swim for the surface, our lungs aching for air.

We want someone to save us – throw us the life preserver of “normal” and tow us to shore so our feet can touch ground again.

Maybe the first step of survival when we’re drowning in grief is to let go of our desire for normal.

Normal was then.

Grief is our now.

Yes, it’s our unwanted now.  We want to turn our back on it. But the only way to our future where our hearts are no longer wrecked is through now.

The experts tell you everyone processes grief differently – in different ways and at different paces. I’m not referring to the professionals – although they say this, too. I mean the friends and family you know who’ve walked this unwanted path ahead of you.

We can also pray for a miraculous, fresh breeze of hope to sustain us, to help our grieving friends. Hope fills our emotional sails and reminds us moving ahead is possible. When grief leaves us at a standstill for weeks and months at a time and we are unable to pray, we can lean into the prayers of others. We can also remember Jesus always intercedes for us. (Romans 8:34)

Hope eases the burden of grief, allowing us to learn how to bear sorrow’s unwanted weight.

Maybe one way we help bear one another’s burdens is praying for whispers of hope for our grief-stricken friends. We keep our eyes on the horizon for them when their vision is blurred by tears.

Choosing to Wait for Hope When Grief Wrecks Our Heart https://bit.ly/3om2E2i #grief #hope
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'Life's roughest storms prove the strength of our anchors.' Quote by Unknown https://bit.ly/3om2E2i #perspective #hope
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