More Principles for Healing from Loss

Paul was encouraging them all to take some food, saying, . . . “I encourage you to take some food, for this is for your preservation.”
–Acts 27:33–34

How do we move from grief to acceptance? Yesterday, I offered three biblical principles for dealing with loss. Today, I’d like to share two more suggestions to bring comfort in your grief.

First of all, eat, dress, and sleep. God created us as physical beings, not just spiritual beings, and we have to care for ourselves physically during the grieving process. Don’t sit around in your pajamas for weeks at a time. You need a routine that includes eating and sleeping. In Acts 27, Paul was on a ship from Jerusalem to Rome. The ship had been battered by a storm for two weeks, and the people on board were so terrified that they hadn’t eaten. Paul said, “I encourage you to take some food, for this is for your preservation” (v. 34). When you’re going through a difficult time, it’s important to take nourishment. Don’t neglect your physical needs.

Finally, choose to forgive. Hurting people hurt people. When you’re grieving, a natural reaction is to blame others and lash out. It may be true that other people have wronged you or your deceased loved one in some way. But holding on to bitterness stalls the healing process.

Hebrews 12:15 says, “See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled.” When you go through heartache in your life, God gives you an extra measure of His grace to get you through that hurt. But bitterness neutralizes the healing power of God’s grace. That’s why the writer said not to allow bitterness to take root in your heart. Even if somebody has acted wrongly toward you or has some responsibility in your loved one’s death, harboring bitterness toward that person will hurt you much more than it hurts them. Make the choice to forgive.

A friend of mine wrote, “God’s answer to grief is not a philosophy but a Person, not something but Someone, not a word but the Word, not a myth but the Messiah, not commentary but the cross, not human reason but divine resurrection. God’s answer is Jesus.” Jesus Christ is the only one who can truly mend your broken heart and help you move from grief to acceptance.

Today’s devotion is adapted from “Moving from Grief to Acceptance,” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2021.

Derrick G. Jeter, “A Deeper Mystery: What Do We Say to Those Who Ask?” (sermon), Coffee House Fellowship, Stonebriar Community Church, Frisco, Texas, November 15, 2009.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org.