Dear Ones,
Hope you had a great weekend! We enjoyed helping with the rummage sale here over the weekend and fun to work together. Yesterday we served at church and so many stay for coffee and fellowship. Today I need to go to Aldi’s and to exercise class and make more cookies. Emoji
Devotions from Judy’s heart
It seems that Al and I that we have been faced with lots of deaths of friends recently and attended funerals. On Saturday a friend and I went through all the clothes of a another one who recently died, and it brought so many memories to mind of her. I remarked to Al that it seems today that people generally don’t take time out to really grieve the loss of a loved one and to honor their memory in a deep way; instead, their death may be sometimes viewed like an imposition to have work schedules messed up or daily schedules, and they desire to go back to their routine lives as quickly as possible. But is that how it should be? What happens when we store grief without expressing it? Sometimes it comes up much later in feelings of depression for the grief was never addressed when it happened.

When we read in the Word about Moses death or Aarons, the people grieved for 30 days. When Jacob died, Joseph threw himself on his father, cried over him and kissed him and mourned for him 7 days; even the Egyptians mourned for him for 70 days. (Genesis 50)  I have been reading about David and how he grieved for Jonathan and King Saul when they were both killed in the same day. He didn’t keep it all inside but tore his clothes, fasted and wrote a mourning song for both of them. (II Samuel 1) He was heartbroken and pours out his soul to the Lord. David cared and lamented and wrote many beautiful Psalms when he experienced grief. Eugene Peterson writes of David’s willingness to give attention to the fact of death and said, “In order to live totally we must face death totally.” David honored life and also lamented fiercely. Much of David and Jonathan’s friendship was not spent together but their friendship brought out the best in each other.

We find that 70% of the Psalms are laments and record times when David faced disappointment and losses and death. He didn’t run from things but faced them and prayed to the Lord. We also need to give ourselves time to grieve and lament, to remember our loved one and how they touched our life. It is not to attract pity from others but rather to notice how that person affected our life and enlarged us. We must not run from the reality of death but deal with it in the context of God’s sovereignty. And as we lament it helps connect us and prepares us for resurrection life.

Challenge for today: Don’t ignore loss and run from grief but use one of the Psalms to lament.
Blessings on your week and prayers and love, Judy