I Samuel 16:1 The LORD said to Samuel, "How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel?
Samuel mourns and grieves that Saul who was anointed to be king had disobeyed God and was rejected by God. We too in our personal lives may grieve over some incidents that happened in the past. 'Grief' is a sensitive topic and I do not claim to have sufficient Biblical or experiential knowledge about it. What follows are my thoughts on this topic.
Even God grieves. It is written that the Holy Spirit grieves when we sin. Let's think of the usual reasons that cause us to grieve and assess whether our grief is godly or worldly.
We all make mistakes, and mistakes have consequences - some light, some serious. It hurts us the most when our mistakes affect the lives of our loved ones. We grieve over it, again and again, wishing that such a mistake never happened. It is good to remember that Godly grief leads to repentance. Let us check if we have repented of those bad ways and choices and move on forward. God is asking us today, 'How long will you just grieve?'
Each one of us is at different places in our spiritual walk. Yet, we sure know and have friends who are walking the path of rebellion, walking in the direction that points away from God. At times we see them making the same mistakes again. We see a habitual pattern, or addiction, or rebellion, or even apathy towards God. We grieve for them, for their lives and their souls. Godly grief leads to burden. Kneel, stand in the gap and intercede for them, warn them and keep giving them godly inputs when you get an opportunity. God is asking us today, 'How long will you just grieve?'
When we read a newspaper or directly see injustice, we do grieve over our society, over the evils and corruption that happens in the national level, or even within the church. If the grief is stopping us from fellowshipping, if the grief is turning us inwards, if the grief is making us just irritated and frustrated, then that is not godly grief. Godly grief turns to passion that desires to change the scenario. God is asking us today, 'How long will you just grieve?'
One of the most difficult grief to handle is that of the loss of a loved one. A loss of a life taken at youth - a life which we may consider incomplete; A loss of a spouse - a life that was entangled with ours; A loss of a parent - a child's first inspiration; A loss of a friend with whom we shared our joys and sorrows with. Death is painful, as death was not a part of God's design for us. Death is the wages of our fallenness. It is necessary to grieve a loss of a loved one. Yet, Godly grief never accuses God of separating us from our loved ones. Godly grief remembers the hope of resurrection. God is asking you today, 'How long will you keep grieving?'
For, even godly grief, that remains as mourning for a long time will turn to self-pity, and a drain that sucks all the time and energy God has given us.
I would like to add one more perspective to the time one takes to grieve, only to strengthen, and never to be inconsiderate. If truly there is heaven and hell, eternal joy and damnation, if there is an evil source lurking behind every sorrow that we see, a deception so huge that we lose our ability to trust, betrayals and martyrdom - then we should know that we are in the midst of warfare! We need to be very careful how we spend our time and energy during warfare.
This one is for my hubby who is an ardent Lord of the rings fan. Those who do not know about the story can skip to the conclusion. When Gandalf one of the key figures, a kind of father figure to the hobbits died, we see them struggling and crying. Aragon, the future king insists that they keep moving and that they don't stay there. Aragon's response looked very incompassionate. But then he reminds them that they are in the middle of a war! At times a soldier cannot afford the luxuries that a commoner has.
We know that our King - Jesus Christ is asking us to put our armor on. Our victory is secured. Yet, the enemy tries to make as much collateral damage as possible. Would we heed to the call of our king when He says, 'How long will you grieve?' There are people to save, there are battles to fight. The joy of the Lord shall be our strength.
Link to the previous article: Why did you doubt? Link to the next article: Who do you say I am?
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