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Listen to my words, Lord, consider my lament. 

Hear my cry for help,

my King and my God,

for to you I pray.

In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice;

in the morning I lay my requests before you

and wait expectantly. 

Psalm 5: 1-3

It was a cold early spring Saturday morning. I noticed a shadow bending low under the apple trees in our backyard. My usually stoic dad was kneeling and rocking in the dewy wet grass. When I opened the door, I heard him wailing.   

“Dad… what’s going on?” I yell.

My mom appeared. “It’s Grandma, honey. Dad just got word—she’s gone. Dad needs time.”

“Mom… why did this happen? She was getting better.”

I had never seen my dad cry before that day. And after that day, I didn’t see him cry until he was ninety-four. Then, it was like a switch flipped, and all his collected tears flowed.

 Today, we all grieve—so much, it seems to me.

Author C.S. Lewis was asked about how he dealt with sorrow. He said, “In nearly all possible ways, it (grief) isn’t a state but a process. It keeps changing—like a winding road with quite a new landscape at each turn.”

How do we deal with that ever-changing landscape? First, the Bible teaches us that Jesus knew sorrow, loss, pain, and grief. And another thing—he knows us, and meets us, at every turn.

I love Psalm 5:3, the above verse. “… in the morning, I lay out my requests before you and wait expectantly.” God wants to hear from us; he loves us enough to send his son Jesus to this earth to die for us. Imagine that for a moment—God’s son died. The Creator of the universe; our Creator’s son, died. He, above all, understands our grief and our pain. He sees each tear we cry. 

The psalmist also says that after our requests, we “wait expectantly.” Does our sadness change in a day, month, or year? Sometimes yes, but quite often no. Sometimes the journey lasts a lifetime. And honestly, some of us are worn out from groaning and questioning God. Yet, it is there where He meets us—in our struggle, in the middle of our stories. So, lean in to this beautiful verse from Hebrews 12:1-2, “…run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus….”

Next Steps

At this moment in my life, I have twelve friends and loved ones grieving a loss. Maybe you are experiencing something similar? We need to mourn with those who mourn. Above all, let’s pray for our friends to meet with God daily, pour out their hearts honestly, and worship Him as they grieve. Take some time today to listen to the words of this song and ask God if there is someone specific to share it with.