“I’m so thankful for all the incredible gifts God has given me in my local community, friends, church, and family. But that’s what makes this so hard and painful. It physically aches. Why is this so hard?” My pen slid across the lined paper of my journal.
You see, I just left my home, friends, and family to follow God’s guidance as I moved to a different state. And with that has come loss. Yet that grief is a result of good things, things I want to be thankful for.
The contradiction was confusing. Losing good things was causing grief — but shouldn’t I have been simply thankful for the good things?
That’s the beauty of it. Grief and gratitude go hand in hand. Often grief is caused by things we are grateful for. Yet we also are able to have gratitude while we grieve. God created us wonderfully complex. We don’t need to feel guilty for godly grief or gratitude, even if it doesn’t make sense to us.
In the book of Ezra, the returning exiles experienced a similar overlap of rejoicing and mourning. They wailed for what they had lost and they sang for what they were gaining. In this passage, the people came together and brought their emotions before the Lord. It’s beautiful.
Today, let’s do the same.
Lord, thank you for the blessings in my life. May I glorify you with these gifts. At the same time, I give you my grief over change and loss. Thank you for weeping with me.
Song of Encouragement: Weep With Me by Rend Collective
Photo Credit: Swansway Motor Group on Unsplash