Dealing with grief is perhaps one of the hardest things that we, as humans, must do. Grief may be rooted in a death or illness, or it may be rooted in a loss, such as the loss of support, the loss of a spouse through divorce, the loss of a job, or even the feelings of abandonment that parents often go through as they realize they must allow their children to grow up. The focus of the upcoming 8 devotionals, that will be appearing in the next 8 Saturday editions of The Nugget, will be on how to deal with the grief. The first two devotionals focused on the grieving cycle, and these last eight will teach us important lessons about grief from specific and personal experiences of Nugget Writers. Our prayer is that you will be blessed by this series, and that somehow, whatever it is you are grieving, the lessons presented here will help you to get through.
In Dealing with Grief Part 7, we learned that sometimes we have to stop focusing on “us” and “our” problems, and begin to focus on others. When we do so, our problems will begin to look so much less important! Today’s devotional, brought to us by Sally I. Kennedy, though not specific to death, helps us to see grief from a slightly different perspective:
WHO FEELS THE PAIN?
“I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” (2 Corinthians 6:18)
Last week held a big step for two people close to me. My daughter had said, “I don’t know if I can let him go!” And on Tuesday, my three year old grandson went to school for the first time. It’s hard to say who felt the pain of separation more; my daughter or her first-born.
It was déjà vu for me as I was transported back in time. Our oldest child began morning pre-school at the same age. I suspect the parent feels the pain more than the child. The youngster is on to new and exciting adventures, while the parent is left behind in his or her same routine.
Maybe it’s always easier for the one who moves on than the one who is left. My friend Ed, a counselor, says you grieve when you lose a person, place, or thing. It could be just about anything in life, little or big.
I thought about who was it that felt the pain more when we became separated from God back in the Garden of Eden? And who grieved the most? My guess is that it was our Father, God. His pain was enough to implement His plan to bring us back into that close former relationship with him.
It did finally happen. As all things came together, in the fullness of God’s time, Jesus became the bridge between us and our heavenly parent. Happy endings are always good, and there is none better than this one.
That is definitely good news.
Sally Kennedy*
Friends, when bad things happen, we need to remind ourselves that the ones who are left behind are the ones who grieve! God was the first to experience grief! He knows all about it!
The upcoming three devotionals will shift focus slightly, to how we can help others when they are dealing with grief. Join us next week for Dealing with Grief, Part 9: Dealing with the Death of a Daddy.
* Sally I. Kennedy is a songwriter, the creator of Poppy the Penguin® preschool music videos, and the author of Irish Thursdays: More Little Parables, Words from the Heart, and 52 Little Parables from Ireland . She lives in south Florida, with her husband Ben. Please visit her website: http://www.sallyikennedy.com Email: sallyikennedy@bellsouth.net
(To access the entire “Dealing With Grief” mini-series, please click here.)