Message Summary:

Processing Loss

Everyone has to deal with loss at some point in their life and it’s something we all have to work through. Pain is a part of our reality. $90 billion are spent annually on physical pain relief.

The bible talks about pain a lot. People experience pain now just like they did in the biblical times. Ancient writers were honest about their experiences with pain. The story of Job talks about the tremendous loss he went through in life. In the New Testament, Jesus reminds us that, “in this world you will have trouble, but take heart for I have overcome the world.” Paul says the prayer he prayed the most was for God to take away his pain, but God reminds him, “My grace is sufficient for you.” This changed Paul’s perspective.

We’re all going through a season of loss at church right now, in our own ways. It is important for us to remember there is nothing new under the sun. God gave us a choice in the garden. Choice is what leads to love and God is love.

Pain is inevitable

There is a misconception that if we are doing the will of God and our hearts are in the right place, we can avoid seasons of pain in our life. We see pain as the absence of God and not the presence of God in our lives. Pain is inevitable for all of us. When you face trials, God is doing something in your life. God is preparing you for something. God is not absent in the presence of pain. Nothing can separate us from the love of Jesus. Pain that is self-inflicted can be the most painful of all, but God is with us in those moments too. Jesus makes us worthy, not what we have or have not done. The enemy wants you to get angry enough at yourself that you would cut yourself off from the healing and redemption that Jesus wants to bring. Sometimes towers just fall down. Good things happen to bad people and vice versa.

It takes a lot of emotional energy to walk through pain. There is a precipice of pain. You can’t go around it; you have to walk through it. Some will choose a medication of choice to avoid pain but if it isn’t life giving you will be sucked dry and find yourself in a place you never wanted to be in. The only want through pain is to embrace it and allow God to do for you what only can happen in moments of pain. You are not powerless to choose how you handle being in pain. The wages of sin are death. The greatest teacher in life is pain. God has our attention and does his greatest work when we are in pain. We waste hurt all the time trying to make the pain go away faster. It’s natural to start with why questions, but we need to move into the what questions. What new things are you shaping in me in this hard season? Appreciate the power and potential of pain. We can live in confident expectation that God is going to produce something beautiful out of pain and loss. God is in absolute control, and you have more power than you think you have.

1. What are some ways you can continue to be joyful even in a season of loss?
2. How can you grow in your community and walk alongside others in their pain?
3. What is your favorite scripture to turn to in time of pain or loss? Share it with the group.