Grief comes in many shapes. The loss of someone you loved. The loss of a dream, a marriage, a season, a version of your life you thought you would have by now. And it does not follow a tidy schedule. Some mornings the ache is quieter; other mornings it takes your breath.
If your heart is broken right now, you do not need to rush it, and you do not need to hide it from God. He does not stand at a distance from your sorrow. He draws close to it.
The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
(Psalm 34:18)
Nigh — near. Not near to the ones who have it all together, but near to the broken-hearted. Your tears are not a sign that your faith is failing. Jesus Himself wept. And He blessed those who mourn:
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
(Matthew 5:4)
There is comfort promised — not a lecture, not a quick fix, but comfort. And there is healing, in His timing and His way:
He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.
(Psalm 147:3)
To bind up a wound is tender, careful work. That is how God tends a grieving heart — gently, and without hurrying you past what you feel.
A gentle practice for today: give the grief somewhere to go. Write the name. Write the memory. Write the thing you wish you could say. You are not trying to fix it or reason your way out of it. You are simply pouring it out before the God of all comfort, who meets us there:
Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort.
(2 Corinthians 1:3)
May your thoughts be bright and your life beautiful.
