Paralyzed by Grief - II Samuel 19-20 and Luke 18:1-23
After the death of Absalom David was overcome with grief so much that he did not think straight or take the actions he needed to take to be reinstated as the king. This is normal for someone who goes through the grief process. Anyone who has lost a close loved one, a job, or a spouse through divorce has felt the pain of grief. Any time we have this type of loss for any reason we go through a season of denial, anger, questions, depressions, and other feelings before we are able to come to accept what has happened and to move on in a positive way. Many people try to cope by depending on other people, on medicine, or on support groups, but the Lord is the only one who can bring a person through the whole process in a healthy way. That is why many people never come through the grief process, but they get stuck at one of the phases of the process. I would encourage all of us to take grief very seriously, and to go to the Lord for His comfort. In the Psalms we see how David did this, but it took a while. In the meantime, God had to carry him through the rebellion of Sheba. That is how God does it. When we can't go ourselves, He carries us.
In Luke 18 we read some keys to moving on. The first is persistent and meaningful prayer. God wants to answer our needs, but often, we don't ask Him. We read books and talk to others, but not to Him. It is important to humble ourselves before Him as the publican did and to cast our cares on Him. He will lead us through by His grace. The wrong way to proceed is to be proud like the rich young ruler. His riches and his good works would never bring him to God in faith. He would have to sell the material things and humbly trust Jesus to receive eternal life, which is real life. Have you realized that yet? Your righteous acts will not cut it. When you grieve or when you are not grieving, it is God's grace that you need. Turn to Him, and give yourself to Him. That is especially true when we need our sins forgiven, or when we need to overcome the paralysis of grief.
Tomorrow, I intend to read II Samuel 21-22 and Luke 18:24-43.
In Luke 18 we read some keys to moving on. The first is persistent and meaningful prayer. God wants to answer our needs, but often, we don't ask Him. We read books and talk to others, but not to Him. It is important to humble ourselves before Him as the publican did and to cast our cares on Him. He will lead us through by His grace. The wrong way to proceed is to be proud like the rich young ruler. His riches and his good works would never bring him to God in faith. He would have to sell the material things and humbly trust Jesus to receive eternal life, which is real life. Have you realized that yet? Your righteous acts will not cut it. When you grieve or when you are not grieving, it is God's grace that you need. Turn to Him, and give yourself to Him. That is especially true when we need our sins forgiven, or when we need to overcome the paralysis of grief.
Tomorrow, I intend to read II Samuel 21-22 and Luke 18:24-43.