Holiday Grief

For some of us, this Christmas season is bittersweet.

Yes, we are grateful for the many blessings we have, and yet many of us have experienced painful losses this year, endured disappointments, or pressed through the heartache of broken relationships. Yet we pushed forward, didn’t we?

But did we allow ourselves to grieve well?

Personally, two beloved friends of mine passed away suddenly just in the past couple

months. I still weep about these losses, although not as loudly as in the day’s past. I am

trying to also navigate through the pain of broken relationships, trying to figure it all out.

Sometimes godly responses in messy situations are not always so clear cut. There are

moments I grieve about this too as I seek God in prayer for direction.

Take heart that if this is you, God holds precious our tears. Heaven knows. God

understands:

You’ve kept track of all my wandering and my weeping.

You’ve stored my many tears in your bottle—not one will be lost.

For they are all recorded in your book of remembrance. Psalm 56:8 TPT

In Jewish tradition, its ok and even normal to wail at the top of your lungs, men and

women alike, when grieving. Yeah, I know wailing could disturb neighbors…sometimes I

do my wailing in my car – windows rolled up! Whether crying loudly or softly, crying

heals.

For some of us, we can feel numb, and the tears don’t easily flow. Ask God to help you

to release those tears if this is you. Grieving is a process.

Let’s not run away from our sorrow and medicate ourselves through other means such

as shopping, eating, pornography, drinking alcohol, work, Korean dramas, or anything

else that tends to give relief.

Instead, let’s give our sadness to the Lord and ask Him to speak. He is a creative God.

He may give you an idea to do something or journal something that can help you along

the path of healing.

May the Lord’s comforting Presence wrap around you! May you be filled with

supernatural peace and joy as we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus and remember

His immense love that moved him to be our Emmanuel, God with us!

“…he is the Father of tender mercy and the God of endless comfort. He always

comes alongside us to comfort us in every suffering …” 2 Corinthians 1: 3-4 TPT

Sincerely,

Michele Okimura