“When you get to the other side of your season of mourning, if there is more distance between you and God than there was before this season began, God didn’t move, you did.”
Learn How To Mourn in a Godly Way
While we tend to associate mourning only with a death, we actually mourn different losses in our lives, some more than others. We might mourn the dissolution of a marriage, the waywardness of a child, an unresolved dream, the loss of a friendship, even the disappearnce of what we thought our world would look like. In fact, many of us have been unknowingly mourning through these past few years of turmoil in the world as our plans, visions, and ideas have come crashing down.
As Christians, we are told that our mourning should look different than that of those who have no hope. But what does that mean? Is it possible to mourn and still have hope? Can we find joy in our grief? Can we trust God while feeling our loss deeply?
Naomi teaches us what godly mourning looks like as she struggles through the grief of losing her husband, her sons, and her hope for her future.
When we feel a deep loss, it is difficult to put one foot in front of the other, let alone take time to work through our grief with God. When my dad passed away after spending his whole life in ministry, I struggled to mourn in a way that brought glory to God. When I missed my dad, I felt like I wasn’t trusting God, but when I went on with life as usual, I felt like I was being fake and betraying my dad.
I approached people who had walked this road before me, yet I found no solid answers to my questions. I heard people make blanket statements like “you shouldn’t ask why,” but they couldn’t give me biblical support for their opinions. I found that in grief there are things that feel wrong, but we don’t really know why.
During that time, I happened to be studying the book of Ruth, and God used it to gently answer my questions. He used the book of Ruth to show me what it looks like to mourn with hope, to feel the pain and still trust Him, to lean into Him instead of away from Him.
My prayer for you is that, if this book finds you in a season of mourning, you will recognize that God sees you in your pain and He cares. He wants to be your comforter. He wants you to bring your pain, all of it, to Him and let Him carry you through the heartbreak.
If you are not in a season of mourning, I pray you will use this time to prepare for the hard times that are sure to come. Start to build your foundation so you will be able to withstand the storms of life.