You can experience deep loss and still have lasting hope in Christ. Your sorrow can lead you closer to God.
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Grieving with Hope – In Grieving with Hope, Randy gives perspective and practical advice to help readers on the grieving journey, so that in time, your grief will be accompanied by joy and hope. Use the coupon code: RADIOGIFT for free shipping!
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SHAUNA: I’m Shauna with Joni Eareckson Tada: Sharing Hope. Thank you for joining us.
JONI: Thank you, Shauna. And today, well, I want to talk about a different kind of grief. Yeah, I’m talking about a deep loss and awful pain, and I’m even talking about a kind of death. But with this grief, there is no grave and there’s no tombstone. Instead, it is a completely paralyzed body that, for years, contained all the beautiful memories of what “once was.” And oh, when I first became injured, did I grieve. It felt as though I had lost everything. After my accident, I lost not only the use of my body [and that fact alone was completely devastating], but I lost so many dreams. As a quadriplegic, I could not do the things I wanted to do. So much potential is lost. And I guess this is why I have such sympathy for people who have lost a precious loved one to, well, cancer or old age or a fatal accident. Suddenly, that one you love is gone. And when I dove into shallow water – bang! Suddenly, my life as I knew it was gone. And so, I love to come alongside people who are grieving.
You know, they say the clinical explanation for grief is that it is the natural, often painful emotional response to loss—particularly the loss of someone or something deeply cherished. Grief is a journey though, isn’t it? It’s not just a moment. It doesn’t follow a tidy timeline. Grief is not something you “get over.” Like, every time I get a pressure sore, or I lose the ability to do something, as I recently lost the nerves and muscles in my right arm which means I can no longer feed myself. I mourned the loss of that precious bit of functioning ability. But I’m like any other person who grieves. You move slowly through it. You carry it with you. And as you do, grief changes you. You may heal, but the loss reshapes your soul. With time, joy and sorrow learn to live side by side.
That thing about being “Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing,” that comes from 2 Corinthians 6:10. It’s a kind of paradox, isn’t it? I mean, you can experience both grief and joy simultaneously. While believers may face hardships and sadness, they can find a deeper, abiding joy in Jesus Christ. And so, we look at eternal things where our hope serves as an anchor for our wounded hearts. I mean, believe me, in my wheelchair, my heart is anchored in heaven. I do not grieve the loss of a functioning body as “…those who have no hope…” like it says in 1 Thessalonians. My grief still hurts but it is infused with hope because I know this pain is only temporary. Jesus’s resurrection guarantees that. I’m looking forward to the day when God himself will wipe away all my tears and yours. Now, that’s intimate. That’s personal. God is not distant in our grief—he is near. Jesus has promised that you will see your loved one. And Jesus has promised in Isaiah 35 that one day I’m going to jump out of this wheelchair and leap for joy!
Oh, friend, there’s so much more to say, and it’s why I’m offering a special booklet today at joniradio.org written by Randy Alcorn. It’s called, “Grieving with Hope.” Because grief should not drive us away from God; it should drive us to him. There is coming a world where grief itself will be forever abolished. So, go to joniradio.org and ask for your free copy. So, get help at joniradio.org.
© Joni and Friends