28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-29
On my way home, I heard the story of a world war 2 veteran that was captured and held in a Japanese interment camp where was held captive and was subjected to untold torture. When the war ended and he returned home to America, this veteran continually held those dark secrets deep in his soul.
Many years later when his own son died, he finally cracked. I wish the outcome was he sought help from the VA, but the reality was he committed suicide. To him, this was his way of escaping the pain of those long lasting images of war and the recent death of his son.
Today, we continue to hear of heart break stories after the loss of a loved one.
In fact, after such a loss, we come face to face with the proverbial fork in the road. One part leads to seeking professional help to recovery, while the other fork leads to drug and alcohol addiction, anger and isolation. Some become so paralyzed that they can't seem to get out of bed.
Anger can become so debilitating that it can cause some to stop going to church, or open their bible. Their faulty perception becomes," why would a 'good' God take my loved one? Whey couldn't he have taken the criminal with a extensive rap sheet instead instead of my loved one who did everything good in this life?'Only God truly understands the pain of his people. Only He can see the well worn sandles on their feet and their moist eyes from crying.
As the video went on the conversation switched over to the act of forgiveness. Jesus's death on the cross and his resurrection enabled him to become our intermediator between us and God. He enabled all of us to invite the living savior into our heart, and with that God's whispering Holy spirit in times of trouble. He enabled us to be able to bring our concerns, our worries, our anxieties, to God.
We learned about the importance of journaling our concerns, our worries and our anxieties.
For me, putting that on paper allows those thoughts to become a little less traumatizing. The life of your loved one may be over, but your life is still going- don't let the loss of your loved one define you. It is when we lean into our savior that God gives us a heart of compassion to help others to others.
Picture, if you will, seeing Jesus waving for you to take the right path, but the pain has caused you're eyes to cloud over so you can't see the Savior. It is when you get up and acknowledge all of your fears to God when your eyes focus on the living savior and you see Jesus waving you to come toward him the the chosen path he has for you.
Unresolved grief can often lead to post traumatic stress much like the world war 2 veteran who couldn't bare to go on after the loss of his son. God loves you and has a plan for your life. Lean into the savior and he will eventually reveal that plan.
There is help to help you recover. I recommend you check out Griefshare.org and find a group near you. Griefshare is a 13 week group that will give you the skills you need to process the emotional pain of your loss.
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