Grieve and Let Go

Alan Heller, Personal Life Coach and Counselor
alan@walkandtalk.org

but those who hope in the Lord
    will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
    they will run and not grow weary,
    they will walk and not be faint.
–Isaiah 40:31

When Moses encountered the burning bush. He was told to do something: “Take off your shoes. This is holy ground”.

When God awakens us in an area or touches us in our whole spiritual life, He usually calls us to “do something”. In my experience, some of the greatest times of awakening and growth have been my deepest points of pain, confusion, or silence in my life. I did not always know what to do, how to do it, or what the next step was.

When my 32-year-old son was diagnosed with colorectal cancer and subsequently died ten months later, I had to take a deep breath after feeling like someone had punched me in the gut. But as I waited on the Lord, fasted and prayed, God spoke. I became obedient to watch the Red Sea part, as it were. It was not immediate. It was a process and it took much longer than I wanted.

When we have great need and feel it, God usually speaks to us deeply; because, as C.S. Lewis says, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain.”

Let’s take some time to recount the losses we’ve have had in this season. Let’s take some time to engage with loss together. Let’s notice the now-empty spaces in our lives. Let’s acknowledge our trauma, our loss, our grief…together. Not standing alone.

Action:
Take some time to sit in God’s presence with a notebook or journal and write down what comes to mind. Resist the tendency to minimize (“It’s no big deal.” “It wasn’t that bad.” “Others have it worse.”). Just write it down. And notice what feelings are coming up as you begin listing those losses that surface. Give them to the Lord—because HIS yoke is easy and HIS burden is light—and you will find rest for your soul.