Grief is a deep and powerful motion caused by the loss of someone or something we love and held dear. Grief is the price we pay for loving and engaging with life. Every emotionally healthy person will experience seasons of grief because death and loss are a part of this transitory life.
To be prepared for the world that God is preparing for us, where no grief can ever come, is the fundamental key to enduring the grief that is common to this world.
It is sin’s presence in the world that makes grief a common experience. And, even though God never intended the human heart to suffer grief, He has included instructions and promises in His Word to aid the human heart in dealing with grief.
Psalms 34:18 The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
While in the custody of his enemies, David wrote, “You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle.” David was, at the time he wrote this psalm, a prisoner of war, and he had reason to cry and be sorrowful.
Psalms 56:8 Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?
God may not have an actual bottle where our tears are kept or a literal book where sorrows are recorded, but He nonetheless remembers all the things that happen in our lives, including the suffering endured for His sake. The fact that God remembers us and our sufferings should be very comforting.
Our grief and tears are not futile. God knows each of His children intimately, and every tear we shed has is important to Him. He remembers all of our sorrows as if He kept each tear in a bottle. In the end, He will share His joy with us when “‘He will wipe every tear from our eyes.
The idea behind the keeping of “tears in a bottle” is remembrance. David is expressing a deep trust in God, and knows that God will remember his sorrow and tears and will not forget about him.
There is nothing wrong with grieving. First, we know that times of grief serve a purpose. Ecclesiastes 7:2 says, “It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart.” This verse implies that grief can be good because it can refresh our perspective on life.
Secondly, we remember that feelings of grief are temporary. “Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5). There is an end to mourning. Grief has its purpose, but it also has its limit.
An important part of dealing with and overcoming grief is expressing it to God. When we commune with Him, we are able to open our minds to the truth that He loves us, that He is faithful, that He is in control, and that He knows hows He is going to work it out for our good. We can give our hurt to Him because He cares for us; and we can rely on him to help through the storms of life in this fallen world; filled with Grief. (1 Peter 5:7) Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
Revelation 21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
Darrell G. Young
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