Grieving and Gratitude
Two weeks ago, I said a heartbreaking, tearful goodbye to my adorable, sweet, nearly 20-year old chihuahua, Howie. We adopted him when he was 15 years old. He ended up in a rescue when his previous owner suddenly passed away. That’s where we found him. I couldn’t resist his sweet face and adorable personality. I didn’t know then how attached I would get in the next few years. He was the best snuggler, loved to get under blankets, and was just so sweet to everyone. Watching him get even older, lose some of his senses, and then finally get sick, was incredibly difficult. Making the compassionate decision to let him go in the early morning hours at an animal hospital was even harder.
Pet lovers who have bonded with their pet can understand the deep grief that accompanies such loss. It’s just one of many griefs of all kinds that we may face in this life. Whether the loss of a beloved person or pet, or even the loss of a job, a home, or a relationship – grief is so real, so heavy. When you’re in the middle of it, it’s next to impossible to envision life outside of it. So what can we do in those times?
We could turn to the world in search of comfort. Many do. They get angry. They get even. They get wasted, hoping to numb themselves to reality. But this sin-cursed world is the reason why we face pain, loss, and death in the first place. Turning to it only leads down an endless trail of compounded suffering.
There’s only one place we can go to find hope and healing – our Creator, the source of life. Not only has He created all things, but after sin entered the world He came in the form of Jesus Christ to bring the offer of redemption. Through Him, all things will one day be restored to their former glory. Jesus so clearly announced who He was – the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Nothing, no one outside of Him, can give us any of that.
Not only has God created all things from nothing, but He has called them good (Genesis 1). He cares about everything that He has made, no matter how small or insignificant we have made them in our own eyes.
“In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind” (Job 12:10).
If something affects you, bothers you, weighs you down – He cares, and He wants you to trust Him with all of your hurt and fear.
“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7).
The Lord defends life and values it. Death has been the enemy since the moment of Adam and Eve’s sin in the garden, but never has it been an enemy that couldn’t be overcome. Its end is already sure. Jesus Christ paid the price that sin deserved, allowing us to have peace with our holy Creator. But it was more than just the death of Christ that gives us hope. If it had ended there, death would not have been defeated. But praise God, He rose from the dead. The grave couldn’t hold him.
“For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him” (Romans 6:9).
He himself has said: “I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades” (Revelation 1:18).
And when we trust in Him and ask Him to save us, He enables us to overcome death as well.
“For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit…” (1 Peter 3:18).
The Lord Jesus “has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Timothy 1:10).
Only a God who cares deeply for His creation, in all its rebellion and all of its failings, would provide such mercy and grace. Yes, in this world we will have trouble. But in our grief, which is inevitable this side of heaven, we can ask Him to help us, because He has already overcome the world (John 16:33).
In our grief, we can cling to the promises that one day, God will restore all things (Acts 3:21). One day, all who have trusted in Christ for salvation will also experience resurrection. And in this new state - this new place - disappointment, trials, and death will not exist.
“He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Revelation 21:4).
Even as we experience pain here, this promise – this truth – alone allows us to see beyond this darkness to a light that will never fade. We can be grateful, even as we grieve, because this is all so very temporary. One day, life as our good and perfect Father meant it to be from the beginning, will be eternal.