How will it all end?


No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear. –C. S. Lewis


It just seems to get deeper and deeper, doesn’t it? Every news cycle brings a new cause for grief: another shooting, more looting, fresh hot spots for that virus that keeps our lives out of whack. Every time we take a step forward, it seems something else pops up to remind us: we are not in control.

Nope. Never were. We just like to act that way.

We are a nation in grief over so many losses, and our grief has been so intense that the whole world is joining us as we weep in anger and anguish. We grieve lost freedoms. We grieve lost or delayed dreams for our children and grandchildren. We grieve the way things were before—or grieve that we let things be so wrong for so long.

Some days, it feels as if we will never recover. We want to strike out, to make someone else feel what we are feeling—except all our friends already have enough grieving of their own going on. How will we ever get through this???

Answer: As with the grief we feel after a loved one dies, things will never go back to the way they were before. Grief is an agent of change. The question is whether you will allow grief to eat away at your loving, hopeful spirit; or to form and transform you into a better, more compassionate person. 

You hold all the cards. You choose.


Monday Think for a few minutes about your church background (or lack thereof). How important is knowledge of Scripture to you? Psalm 19:7-10

Tuesday Meditate today on the idea of compassion. Do you consider yourself a compassionate person? Pray for a softer heart. Romans 10:10

Wednesday As you go about your living today, open your eyes. Look for people you might otherwise not see. If nothing else, offer a whisper of prayer. Deuteronomy 15:4

Thursday Take an honest look at your heart. What keeps you from doing more? Listen for excuse-making. If you passed someone as the Samaritan did, what would you do? Luke 10:25-37

Friday Do you remember a time when, like the Prodigal, you disappointed a parent or other significant adult in your life? Or perhaps you’ve been the one disappointed? Pray for reconciliation or forgiveness if necessary. Luke 15:11-32

Saturday As you pray today for yourself, offer yourself again as God’s hands in this world. Listen for opportunities, however small, to serve. Luke 21:1-4

Sunday There are strangers in our midst, people we may see every week and never greet. Greet someone you’ve never met—and do so with an open mind and heart. Matthew 25:34-40

You care so much you feel as though you will bleed to death with the pain of it. –J. K. Rowling


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