I have written previously about my cousin Josh and his pastoral series. He is over in Brentwood, TN at New Hope Community Church. I love this series. There is so much I want to write about with his series, and I just haven't had time to take notes on them as much as I have wanted to. So I am setting up a "master" post, so as I have time, I can go ahead and take notes on each sermon in this series.
#1 GOD WANTS OUR HONESTY: More to come
#2 ANXIETY TO PEACE: More to come
#3 DEPRESSION TO JOY: More to come
Comfort happens in the midst of grief. Can you just SIT with someone in their grief? Romans 12: 9-21 is where Paul writes about the marks of a true Christian, and he encourages us to "let love be genuine." Romans 12:15 tells us to "rejoice with those that rejoice and weep with those that weep." You notice it doesn't say "fix the situation." LEAN INTO THAT. I lvoe that statement. Grief doesn't go according to plan. It is all over the map.
Grief doesn't have to be the loss of a loved one. It can be the loss of a dream. It can be the loss of time. There is grief in that. It can be the loss of a friendship.
“Grief, I’ve learned, is really just love. It’s all the love you want to give, but cannot. All that unspent love gathers up in the corners of your eyes, the lump in your throat, and in that hollow part of your chest. Grief is just love with no place to go.”-- Jamie Anderson
Psalm 147:3 " He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds." But remember. If your wound needed a bandage, it probably has a scar.
Remember when Jesus goes to the tomb of Lazarus? If the Messiah who came into this world is able to weep with us? And show us how it is done? Then there are just times that we need to weep with those who weep and mourn with those who mourn. Let them get it out.
John 14: 1 "Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you .... that where I am, you may be also."
1. Don't be afraid to cry; don't apologize for your grief
2. Share your grief; tell people about it! Tell them about your dreams don't come true. Don't bury it. Share it!
3. If it is still in your heart and it is in your mind, it needs to come out!
Rejection hurts. And the negative thoughts swim in our minds. People may reassure us by offering these words. However, rejection is your worst fear becoming reality. All the things that were swimming in your head, are real at least in that moment. Scientists have discovered that the pain we feel physically is from the same region of our brain that processes emotional pain.
And in that rejection, you look to the future and predict future pain. Your brain is protecting you. It doesn't want you to feel that again. It's the same as touching a stove. You know the pain and you won't go near it again. Your body knows the pain of rejection, and it wants to protect you from that ever happening again. Our mind is confirming what we "knew" all along: I am not good enough.
This is the lie that the Devil is throwing at us. You are inadequate.
Rejection is a rite of passage in life. When you feel rejection, however, you are in the greatest Biblical company you can imagine. Jesus knew what it would be like to be rejected. He knows what the burning stove feels like so he would be able to know what you would feel like.
When you feel rejected, try thinking: "Jesus has never been closer." He knows what it feels like. When you open your heart to Jesus and step out of the bondage of thinking no one knows, you step into a relationship with Jesus where he says, "Let me just hold you because I know what this feels like."
YOU MATTER TO JESUS!
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