Walking Through
Message Summary: We are going through loss accompanied by grief. Grief is weird. It is not linear. If you are experiencing loss, how you feel is how you feel. Don’t get caught in the myth that you are supposed to feel a certain way. Jesus will meet you where you are. Jesus doesn’t just sympathize, he empathizes.
John 11 is the story Jesus and Lazarus’ death. He looked at those weeping and was deeply moved in His spirit and troubled. Jesus wept. He was sad about loss. It broke His heart that people He loved were going to hurt through loss.
Closure is not found in an event or a conversation, it is found in the person of Jesus Christ. No one can fix our problems, only Jesus can carry us through every situation. We can walk through the valley of the shadow of death because He is with us. God doesn’t waste anything. We have confidence we will get through a season of loss because what God has done for us in the past. God was faithful then; He will be faithful now.
- Loss is not just physical death, it could be the loss of a dream, loss of a friendship, loss of a season, (empty nest, job change etc…). What loss have you experienced in your life? What feelings come with loss and grief?
- Why is it important to acknowledge your feelings during a season of loss?
- Why is important to understand that grief is not the same for everyone? Have you experienced these differences?
- Have you experienced God’s faithfulness through a previous season of loss? How do those experiences help you to trust God now?
John 11:35 – Jesus wept.
Matthew 11:28 – Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Psalm 23:4 – Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Habakkuk 3: 17-19 – Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.
Proverbs 14:12 – There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.
Proverbs 3:5 – 6 – Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight
Philippians 4:7 – And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 1:5-7 – being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
