“To console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.” Isaiah 61:3 NKJ
Every one of us knows what it is like to experience loss. Whether it is the death of a loved one, the loss of a marriage to divorce, the loss of a relationship due to conflict, the loss of a job due to downsizing, we know what loss feels like. I have experienced all of these losses and many more. Each time I experience loss I grieve for a season and each season of grief is different. The bigger the loss the more time I spend in the grief process. There is no magic potion to drink that can minimize the grief and no 30 day grief recovery program.
So if there isn’t a quick fix for the grief process what can we do to ensure we get through it without being consumed by it? The answer is found in this passage. We once again fix our eyes on Jesus Christ and the finished work of the Cross. Before His death Jesus suffered every pain, sorrow, and loss that we have suffered, or ever will suffer. He understands us is a way that no one else can. And only He knows how to guide us through the grieving process, and for each one of us that process is different.
It is important to understand that each of us has been created with a unique personality by Him that plays a part in how we deal with grief. Our coping skills are different due to our past experiences, our present knowledge, and our ability to look to the future with hopeful expectation. For instance I have always been a person who deals with grief quite quickly and I bounce back faster than most people. A friend of mine on the other hand doesn’t bounce back fast and she needs more time in the grieving process. I used to think something was wrong with her because she seemed to stay in it too long. She used to think something was wrong with me because she thought I was just living in denial, and not taking the time to heal. We were both wrong because we both focused on Jesus and the finished work of the Cross,so it couldn’t be something we did wrong.
If we hadn’t looked to Jesus as our strength and our guide, and if we didn’t look to the finished work of the Cross as our promise; then one of us might have been wrong. But we did! So God was faithful to both of us, it was just the timing that was different. This is so important to understand because only God knows the timing and if we can accept that, then we won’t fight against Him while He is doing a work in us during our times of grief. He promises to console us, to give us beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and a garment of praise for our spirit of heaviness. Our responsibility is to believe by faith that He will, and to put our hope and trust in Him, until we see our reality catch up to His truth!
Notice what we are called when we believe God’s promises by faith and wait patiently for them to manifest in our lives. We are called trees of Righteousness and the planting of the Lord that He may be glorified in and through us! So how do we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and the finished work of the Cross, when the grieving process can be so hard to cope with? The answer can be found in Psalm 1:2-3. It says, “But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.” Psalm 1:2-3
This is not talking about meditating on the 600 + laws in the Bible, because as we know the law doesn’t do one thing to bring us peace. That is why Jesus had to go to the Cross. It is talking about meditating on Jesus and the finished work of the Cross because at the Cross Jesus took on all of our grief and pain. Our delight is to be in Jesus and on the understanding of the finished work of the Cross. When this is our focus we will not wither during the grieving process and the fruit of the Spirit will manifest in its due season. This is when the testimony of God’s faithfulness will prosper and we will have the opportunity to glorify Him by the testimony of His faithfulness! I want to encourage you to spend time meditating on these passages. If you are in the grieving process right now fix your eyes on Jesus. If you know someone who is in it, be an encouragement to them. If you have come through the grieving process victorious share your testimony so others can see the faithfulness of the Lord!
Prayer: I praise You for promising to lead and guide me through my times of grief. I praise you for consoling me and for giving me beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for my mourning, and the garment of praise for my spirit of heaviness! I believe by faith that as I fix my eyes on You and the finished work of the Cross, I will experience these promises and I will be able to glorify you with my testimony of your faithfulness! Amen
No comments:
Post a Comment