With grief, there are no shortcuts.
I wish I had better news for you and me.
The other day, I listened to a voicemail from my dad from 6 years ago.
My heart ached as I heard his voice. Yet the sound of his voice made me smile.
He ended with “I love you”. And I just kept playing that part, over, and over again.
You see with grief, it’s hard to let go of the things and/or people who have been so intricately part of our lives. Because the goodbyes for us begin a journey that none of us asked for.
You see, grief has no timeframe. It has no limitation. And it doesn’t conform.
It’s been 6 years since my dad died, longer with other losses I’ve experienced, and some losses as recent as last year and last week even.
Grief is so disrespectful. It does not care what’s going on in your life, it always comes uninvited.
Lingering, watching, and waiting for me to lean into it.
And maybe your grief is waiting for you to lean into it.
Because with grief, there are no shortcuts.
But how I wish I had a magic wand or a magic formula to make it go away.
And I wish I had a 3-step program to help you move through it quicker.
But there is just no way around it.
I’ve tried several things over the years to “just get over it”
I’ve tried not to think about the loss.
To distract myself with other things.
Tried stuffing it away, pushing it down.
Quoted scripture, hoping it would just disappear.
None of those things worked.
But this is what I’ve found, there is no way around grief.
Only when I began to move toward the grief, was I able to begin to move through it.
With grief, there are no shortcuts.
It sounds daunting but here’s the encouragement, you are not alone.
You are never alone in your grief.
There are so many sitting with you.
I’m sitting with you.
And the One who made the entire Universe is sitting with you.
His name is Jesus. He is a great Comforter.
He is with you, and he is with me as we move along this grief journey.
And knowing that we are not alone is half the battle.
Be encouraged that you are not alone.
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze” (Isaiah 43:2 NIV).
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