Good grief! Do you remember that phrase from Charlie Brown? I love watching Charlie Brown especially the Christmas special, it’s one of my favorites.
But on each episode, when something went wrong, you would hear one of the characters yell “good grief”!…
And I thought about it this morning…Can anything “good” come from grief?
Grieving. It is indeed a journey that we all must take at some point in our life. And not only grief from the loss of loved ones but any loss is still a loss.
I mean, we are all probably grieving right now with all that is going on in the world.
Grieving over the loss of the way things were.
Grieving our old way of doing things…what used to be normal.
Grief is Natural
Well grieving is the natural response to acknowledging a loss.
And today is my sister Sharon’s birthday. It’s been 9 years since she went home to be with Jesus. So I’ve of course have been thinking about her a lot, this week especially.
Missing her face.
Her smile.
I miss her laugh.
Her hugs.
And her jokes.
Her cooking.
And her advice.
Her calls.
Absolutely her friendship.
Her genuine love.
And her sweet presence.
I miss and love her so much. And this morning I thought about a “good grief”… Can any good come from grief?
Beauty from Ashes
I thought about the beauty that can come from the ashes of grief. As introduced to me so well in this beautifully written work by Zig Ziglar in his book, “Confessions of a Grieving Christian”…
Ziglar says that “God uses grief to heal us, strengthen us in our faith, and cause us to grow in our relationship with Him.
God uses grief as a process to show His compassion toward us, teach us, and to bring us into greater wholeness.
Out of grief comes a greater faith, a greater love for others…a sense of urgency to become more effective in witnessing for Christ, to pray more diligently for guidance that I might do all the Lord has for me.”
So on days like today, on weeks like today, during seasons like today, I am reminded that ALL things EVEN grief is working together for the good.
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28 KJV
So yes, something good can come from grief.