A time to mourn

When your loved one passes away, you feel as if part of yourself has gone. Grief and loss changes you – you are no longer quite the person you were. The Bible says there is “a time to mourn.” Yet in today’s rush-rush world, you don’t give yourself time to grieve. This time is necessary for healing to take place, after which you will regain the emotional and physical strength to move on with your life. Tamping down your grief will only make it surface in other, less acceptable ways – like angry outbursts and hostility.

Even Jesus, the Son of God, wept when his friend Lazurus died. He wept although He knew that He would soon bring Lazurus back to life. We all need the healing of grieving.

A phase of life

The Bible says there’s a time for everything.

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Just as surely as night follows day, you too must go through some dark phases in your life. But remember that this time of grieving too will pass. One day the world will seem normal, and you can smile again. This is not to belittle your loss, but to encourage you to accept it as a part of life, and to know that there is another, brighter part of your life still waiting to unfold.

Yes, it hurts to know that your lost loved one will not be a part of your present or your future. But have faith. Others have walked this road before, and survived. You can, too.

Just continue to believe that there is a future in store for you. A future that God has planned.
- Trixie Asirvatham