Summary: Sometimes grief can be so overwhelming that we can shut down. When we lose what we love very much, we feel isolated and alone. We feel that no one can understand our pain. But staying away from other people can only keep us from the community that we need in order to be whole and part of God’s kingdom. This is why there are counselors and support groups for cancer survivors or parents who have lost children to cancer. There are groups for recovering alcoholics and families of alcoholics. There are groups for people who have chronic pain or parents of children with chronic diseases. These are not for people who are weak; they are for all people. Humans are meant to live in community, to share our griefs and stories together. God created the church as a place where we can collectively pray and worship Him, and care for one another. If there are 100 people in a church service, there are at least 100 different pains being brought to Christ. As Christians, we need to ask our brothers and sisters if they are okay, and listen carefully to their answers. As it says in 2 Corinthians chapter 1, God will help us “comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” We do not need the answers; God has them. So if you are grieving, find someone to talk to. And if people come to you with grief, comfort them with God’s comfort. This is Luis Palau.
