How Do I Handle Grief?

Losing is not very much fun. Whether we lose a job or a loved one, it usually results in grief. Today, it is not very fashionable to be grief stricken. Yet, I find hurting hearts longing for an opportunity to release some of the weight caused by carrying sorrow upon sorrow. If I were to ask you how are you doing today, most would respond with the American idiom, “I’m okay; how are you?” What if we started telling each other the truth? Believe it or not, it’s okay to be discouraged, downcast, or heart broken. Jesus provides for us three different pictures of grief that may prove beneficial for the grieving soul:

Monumental Grief – grieving over some task that seems to be too hard for you to handle.

Matthew 26:37‑38 – “And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. [38] Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.

Humanitarian Grief – grieving because others are suffering. This may be people you know or don’t know (Tsunami victims).

Luke 19:41‑42 – And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, [42] Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.

Communal Grief – grieving with others. This may happen at church or even when watching a TV show. You feel for the person’s immediate need and began to weep with them. Romans 12:15; John 11:31‑36 – “The Jews then which were with her in the house, and comforted her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily and went out, followed her, saying, She goeth unto the grave to weep there. [32] Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. [33] When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled, [34] And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see. [35] Jesus wept. [36] Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him!

The only way to handle grief is to shed some tears when you feel like you need to.

Gregg Levoy, writing in “Psychology Today,” reports that crying can actually remove chemicals that build up during emotional stress. According to Levoy, the amount of manganese stored in the body affects our moods; and the body stores thirty times as much of manganese in tears as in blood serum. Biochemist William Frey says the lacrimal gland, which determines the flow of tears concentrates and removes manganese from the body. Frey has also identified three chemicals stored up by stress and released by crying.

Jesus wept and it’s okay for you to weep also.

Word for Today

Lacrimal ‑ 1. Of or relating to tears. 2. Of, relating to, or constituting the glands that produce tears.

Quote for Today

“Tears are the diamonds of heaven” - Charles Haddon Spurgeon