Mourning into Peace

 By: Grace MetzgerGrace Metzger

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted

and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

Psalms 34:18

My mind has been on this verse this morning. While our family has been moving these last couple of weeks, I have been finding myself caught up in memory lane. From my hummingbird snowglobe that I gave my great grandma to an old mickey mouse doll that my grandma Linda gave me just weeks before her passing, my mind has been flooded with memories of my griefs from losing so many of these wonderful people in my life. 

My mind has been going back to those times of anger, grief, and sadness. I have been trying to get over it without much success, so finally, in an act of desperation, around midnight one night I opened my Bible app and looked up the word loss. This verse stood out to me for one reason, it talks about God remaining close to the brokenhearted. I don't know if this is a common feeling, but when I was dealing with my loss, I definently did not feel the closeness of God, that made my mourning even harder cause I felt like God was farther away from me then ever before.

Near the cross of Jesus stood His mother, His mother's sister, Mary Magdalene.

When Jesus saw His mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing

 nearby, He said to her, "Woman, here is your son."

John 19: 25-26

The more I thought about loss, I thought about Mary. I don't think this part of the story is talked about nearly enough. This woman who raised her baby up, saw His first steps, heard His first words, loved Him more then anyone on the earth could possibly love Him, was standing at the foot of the cross watching her son die. The Bible says very little about her reaction to this, it doesn't tell us how she responded to seeing this horrific death of her child happen before her eyes. As someone who is not a mother nor has lost a child before, I can only imagine what my reaction would to this situation. I can see myself shaking my fist at God, crying out to Him "Why couldn't my son live?" Maybe Mary did cry out, maybe she struggled with this loss. We don't know any of this for sure, but what we do know was that her loss was not permanent. Her son was not dead for long and soon she was able to rejoice with the others at His resurrection.

Weeping may last through the night,

but joy comes in the morning

Psalms 30:5

You might ask why am I bringing this up, what is the purpose of talking about a story that we don't even know. Well the reason I bring this up is because this brought me a lot of peace. No, my loved ones weren't in the grave for just three days and no I don't get the blessing of seeing them walk this earth again. However I can take heart that soon I will be with them again, just as Mary is now with her Son again. We aren't going to be separated forever and for that I found so much more peace in my mourning. My mourning didn't go away, in fact it's still here years later, but it didn't take away my peace any longer because I remembered God's amazing sacrifice in allowing His Son to die so that way I get to see my loved ones once again.

I know it's hard losing someone you love, nothing I can say or do will make it easier. But know this God is here; even if you can't feel it, even if you are struggling. God is here and one day you will be up in Heaven praising the Lord with all your loved ones. Take heart in knowing that this isn't the end, one day you will see them again when you both are in the presence of God.

Discussion Question: What is one verse that helps you when you're struggling with your loss?