We may have done everything properly as we grieved:
- Gone through the five stages of denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance*.
- Committed our broken hearts to God and asked him to heal us.
- Trusted him for our future, that he would help us through.
We moved on… but then something happened to remind us. A conversation. A situation. An emotion. And we grieved yet again.
I have learned to lay each flashback at Jesus’ feet, to sit with him in the night for as long as I need. I have learned to accept his precious promises as my own. “The Lord, the King of Israel, is with you; never again will you fear any harm” (Zephaniah 3:15). We don’t have to be afraid. Jesus is with us. We can get up and live.
*1969, psychiatrist, Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
Jesus looks over from his cross. “You might not have noticed, but I am with you.”