How can the journey of grief impact us?

When we are hit with a loss of a loved one or even a job we ask ourselves, where is God in all of this? During my second week in the TCC Grief Share program, I wondered if it was alright to question God. You see, I was a new believer just learning to trust Him and was not sure if it was permissible to question things that He has control over. What I learned is that it is okay to question God to see what we are suppose to learn from our grief. So if you are unsure just ask! He will answer!

I did not have God to help me work through my pain and I did not see what He had planned for me. During this session of TCC Grief Share, I had a revelation or as Oprah Winfrey would say an "Aha" moment. What I did not see through all this grief that built up was who God had put in my mother's life a few years later. I did not see that He was putting my mother with someone that can guide her to a spiritual need that she needed in her life. I didn't want to see it because I, like many people, can never see a parent with someone else than the other parent.

That night, I opened myself up to something new and made some changes to accept my step-father for who he was. It was something I needed to do because for the first few years of my relationship with him was built on some hostility followed by little trust with who he was. I took the opportunity to express that in a letter to both my mom and step-father that I know caught them off guard. In the end, I think I gained their respect and I gained a new perspective on my life and relationship with them.

Something to consider as your working through your grief journey is what are you willing to open yourself to? Are you going to look at the total picture of what God wants you to see or are you going to put blinders on? In time it will get easier to cope with the loss. Just be willing and open to what you are about to learn.