It’s likely that at some point everyone has experienced the grief process. What a lot of us do not realize is that grief can be attached to things other than the death of loved ones.

People have grief over a friendship torn apart, ending a chapter of life (think moving, graduating, etc.), the loss of a job, etc.

They also call it a grief PROCESS for a reason. It is just that. It is not simply a feeling you experience and then move on. It is a long-term series of emotions and thoughts that you have while you still have to try and live a “normal” life.

I’ve experienced grief attached to ending my previous job in new ways this week. I realized how much I loved that job and how sad it makes me that I don’t get to do it any more.

It’s been almost 3 months since I left and I am still not “over” it. I just am not. And I don’t know if I ever really will be, because it is something that meant so much to me. And that’s okay. 10 years from now, I might still have a moment where I get a little teary over it.

It’s okay to let your grief run it’s course no matter how long it takes. But I feel that it’s important not to let it take hold of your heart and your spirit and not to let it drag you down into a miry abyss. That’s what the enemy wants you to let grief do to you.

Even Jesus wept over Lazarus dying (I have also heard speculation that he was crying about the reality of death in general, but regardless…) even when he KNEW that he would raise him from the dead.

It’s okay to feel, my friends. Jesus was fully human and felt the whole range of emotions from his righteous anger while flipping tables to his compassionate weeping over the reality of the death of his friend.

I think partly this blog is to tell myself that it’s okay that I am still crying over something that happened 3 months ago (which really isn’t a terribly long time, I know), but I think I want you to know that you can feel too.

But while you’re feeling always remember the hope to which you have been called at the cross where someone else’s blood was shed for each and every one of your transgressions. Without this important piece it will be easy for you to sink into that seemingly bottomless chasm (this is the Google definition of abyss…powerful, huh?).

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight. — Proverbs 3:5-6