Grief comes to all men through the hardships of life. Death of a loved one. Death of a dream. Loss of an opportunity. Grief is defined as keen mental suffering or distress over affliction or loss; sharp sorrow; painful regret. But the grief unique to a laborer has more to do with disappointment. Jesus came to His own but they did not receive Him. We too will experience the rejection of men and will grieve that loss. Most of my most painful experiences as a believer has been at the hands of other believers. And it grieves my heart. And I believe that it also grieves the heart of God who desires for us to live out the one another verses in the Scriptures. But not only will we grieve the painful interaction with others but we will also experience the pain of watching people fall back from the faith. People we love and have invested time and energy discipling will have many setbacks and we will grieve these with them. We seldom talk about how Jesus must of felt when Judas betrayed him. But, I would suspect it pained Him greatly. Discipling others is not all that different from child-rearing in that we hope great things for our children and experience great concern with their many missteps.
As I write this I open my heart and my soul, to try to understand the grieving in the most personal way. In all my past I sinned and sinned against my Heavenly Father. Time and Time again I Grieved my Father’s Heart and the pain was unbearable. I have read in His Word, ” for give others as Christ Forgave You. ” I remember through the Years How Much through Christ my Heavenly Father has forgiven me and some how I feel how much I need to pass that forgiveness along to all who have given me, not as much grief as I gave my Heavenly Father, but the grief that caused me in my heart to grieve. Through the Father’s forgiveness passed on to others, I find complete release and victory in my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
IN HIS GRIP Chuck Howi
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