If ever there is a battleground, it is definitely the one of losing a loved one. Having endured loss is painful, but the aftermath of this moment is even more significant. The war within rages and it tells you that you’re weak, and at any moment you will crumble, so you might as well stop trying. If you could just find a flight out, but that my friend is a plane ride that leads to nowhere, and really won’t get you far. So, before you sit down and buckle up, listen to just a few things that your heart needs to hear.
It happens to everyone, and you never feel prepared or good about dealing with grief. The truth, it hurts, so deep, because you loved so hard, and if you stop to think about that kind of love well its precious. If you are experiencing moments that seem larger than life, that’s not something you are imagining, you really are. Your longing goes beyond what you can grasp in this dimension. I wonder how many of us can authentically say we are fortunate to share a love or a relationship like that. It certainly does not make it easy, but on the contrary, it does explain the big chasm that you find in your life. It’s as if you can just pin a massive dark spot, not on a map, but on your heart. I do get it and know it all too well, I also am acquainted with the unbearable suffering that exists down that road. Remarkably, this change has marked you, but not all is lost, you still own the many times you laughed, cried, and even grew close. It has helped make you who you are. This is why even when you can’t stop crying, you must not stop living. We must carry on!
The day I woke up as a single mom, changed me forever. Navigating through unexpected detours on a road that left me wondering. God was not far from me, but I still felt he was light years away, along with my personal happiness. If only I could know what to do, or how to push through resistance and dig deeper. That is when I realized that this war would eventually develop a warrior. As I would look into the heart of my two young children and know that I would not be able to alleviate the struggle they would face without their father. I whispered to them, as I will whisper to you today. “Carry on, warriors and trust that you are stronger than the struggle. Carry on, warriors because this will not be the end of you. Carry on, warriors for God is able to go before you to a place that leads you to heal. Carry on, warriors and let it work out for the best. Carry on, warriors until new life fills your souls.”
For further encouragement read Psalm 23
