Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 NIV
[1] There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: [2] a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, [3] a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, [4] a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, [5] a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, [6] a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, [7] a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, [8] a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.
One of the shows I’ve always liked to watch is Hoarders. The more I watch the more I see a pattern of the source of the hoarding. It’s almost always because of the loss of a loved one. Unchecked grief is a dangerous slave master. It consumes you, but instead of making you feel full or even satisfied, it makes you feel empty and alone. It puts you into a state of inability to move forward. Feeling nothing but hopelessness as you either try to fill that emptiness with things or just give up on life entirely allowing mess and garbage to pile up until you’ve found that you’re trapped inside your own. A prisoner to now shame as well as depression, anxiety, anger, pain, and emptiness.
When God set up His Law, He allotted time for grieving. Time to mourn the loss of loved ones so that grief couldn’t consume you. So that you could find peace after loss. So that we could learn to let go.
No one is promised this life to last forever. In fact, that’s the one thing we have been promised we will all see regardless of our choices on this earth, each one of us will one day die and enter eternity. Death is certain, but it is not permanent.
In Christ, to live is Christ and to die is gain. This body will perish but our soul and our spirit will not. And one day, when the Good LORD returns, we will have a new body. An incorruptible body. An immortal one that will never feel pain, sorrow, hurt, loss, or grief again. And on that day we will be reunited with not only our God, but with our loved ones who have gone on before us who have believed. It will be a great day of rejoicing for all believers. Those who have gone on and those who are still here.
One day, we will all die, but thanks be to Christ that’s not the end of the story. So, don’t grieve as if there is no hope. Instead, mourn, yes, mourn. There is a time for mourning, but don’t forget to stop mourning and rejoice.
Peace. Love. Go Forth and Don’t Give Into Grief.