Tag: grieving

healing

Seashells and Snowflakes – Part 3

The Kedge Anchor

If you have been following this series, welcome back and thank you. In this season of grieving I am trying to understand how as a Christian I can be sad and joyful and I have also began to understand that there is purpose in our pain. In the previous two posts (Part 1, Part 2)I shared how I am processing mixed emotions in grief. How can I possible be sad and experience joy. I also shared what I am doing to stay close to God and some creative practices to help process, like writing this blog.

In the last post I left off with Jesus dying on the cross for our sins. He took the weight of the world, the weight of ALL our sins, past present and future. I believe that Jesus felt every kind of physical and emotional pain a human can feel that day. Jesus understands suffering, pain, persecution, temptations, He experienced it all, everything and everything His creation could feel.

This scene in The Chosen Season 3 episode 2, “Two By Two” Little James approaches Jesus and asks why he hasn’t been healed. Please watch this scene. The writers give a plausible explanation for why Jesus didn’t heal Little James and that explanation could be applied to us. It makes sense. Are we willing to still follow Jesus despite our infirmities?

So I thought some more about Jesus crucified on the cross. He could have healed Himself at any time. He could have come down from that cross like nothing happened, completely whole, healed. But He didn’t. His pain on the cross had a purpose. That purpose was to complete the plan of salvation. He had to endure the cross so that He could freely offer us salvation, eternal life. Our pain has purpose. God hears our prayers, He sees our pain but He has a plan and a purpose for us and sometimes that infirmity is part of it. God does heal, He heals everyone, we just may not see it this side of Heaven. We may not know what purpose our pain has here on earth. We certainly have a story to tell and that story could lead someone to Christ or give them Hope.

God loves us and wants nothing but the best for us, His children. He has a plan and a purpose for our lives and sometimes that means pain, physical or emotional. It’s hard to trust when we experience pain but when we do trust the result is beautiful. It helps for me to know that my story can help someone else; maybe that is A purpose.

John 16:33 – “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

ESV
healing

Seashells and Snowflakes – Part 2

The Kedge Anchor
Sea Shells on Sandy Snow
by Aluisius Sudiarto

In my last post, I shared shared how I feel mixed emotions when losing a loved one. How can I feel joyful and sad at the same time? How is that possible? In this post, I continue with how I process these emotions.

Routine and normalcy are something that I need to help move on, I think everyone does, but everyone is different. So I try to go back to my regularly scheduled programming. Although I must admit I feel like I am carrying a weight as go back business as usual. So to lessen that weight I find that doing something creative helps with the healing process.

Writing this post helped, a lot. Organizing my thoughts and emotions and getting them out on paper or computer screen was cathartic. Sharing my heart and allowing myself to vulnerable in a way helps. Though I must admit, doing this on social media is a bit scary.

So here’s what helps me and what I do; cleaning. Ok not so much a creative effort but I feel like at least something in my life is in order. Sometimes I get creative when organizing.

Painting, not a room, I like to watercolor and experiment with my art supplies. I like to create and make new things. Sometimes whatever I am going through will inspire a design or thought that I can communicate with an image or with my lettering. There is joy in creating..

Brush lettering, lettering in of itself is calming and relaxing for me, lettering a scripture verse helps keep God’s word in front of me. I can put scripture on just about anything, wallpaper for my phone, if you go back to November 2020 – December 2022, check out Memorize Mondays and you can download some wallpaper for your phone, free. Because how many times do you pick up your phone, right? God’s Word can be right there in your face. James 4:8 – “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you …” (kind of a little play on words 🙂 ) Put on some worship music or whatever kind of music you enjoy, maybe a podcast or a past message from your pastor and just doodle, draw, paint, knit, sew, bake, cook, take a nature walk and take pictures all you need is the camera on your phone, create something. Being creative is one way that helps me be in close proximity to God. (before you say, “I’m not creative” you are, you just need to uncover it.)

Reach out to others, if just to say “Hi” Sometimes I find when I do that that the person I’m reaching to… I made their day, that blesses me. More often than not the other person is having a bad day and needed some encouragement.

Exercise, it’s kinda cold out, not my favorite weather to go walking, but YouTube has tons of exercise videos and it helps boost the happy hormones. Jessica Valant Pilates has a great 10 minute walking video you can do indoors. Seriously it’s enough on a hard day for whatever reason and it helps motivate me to do more.

This is how I have been processing. It’s always uncomfortable and it hurts. Starting the healing process was hard because I wasn’t sure where to begin but with letting myself feel. The rest kind of fell into place when I sought God. For me that often looked like me sitting staring into space imagining Jesus sitting with me in silence because I had no words, other than recalling scripture or listening to a meditation on the Abide app.

In the last post I mentioned how Jesus may have felt resurrecting Lazarus. He may have felt some mixed emotions having to call Lazarus down from Heaven and having to die again one day. But Jesus was also doing something to for Mary and Martha that would make them happy. Perhaps our Father had some mixed emotions as well. God the Father mourned the day His only Son, died on the cross for our sin. Jesus took it all, He took the sin of the WORLD, past, present, and future of ALL our sin and the Father couldn’t even look at His Son with all our sin placed on Him. He had to look away. BUT, after Jesus was buried , He rose again three days later!!!! All so He could complete the plan of Salvation!! So that we could spend eternity with Him and all we have to do is acknowledge the fact we are sinners and need someone to save us and that someone is Jesus Christ. He is The Plan for our lives – John 14:6!

“Sorrow and the scarlet leaf, sad thoughts and sunny weather…” Thomas W. Parsons

Please stay tuned. After I thought about it some more I began to wonder why we have to experience pain, why in some case Jesus doesn’t heal and why He does in others. I may not have the definitive answer but perhaps it may explain some things.