Still grieving.
At the end of September I shared some words about grieving. God has really shaped my heart, especially in the last years of my life, with His invitation to grieve. I think this is really important to note. Grieving is not a bad thing. It is a God created, God invited gift of sorting through the joys and wounds of my heart in a mysterious way that somehow brings perspective and spiritual health in due season. You can read those previous words from my post from September 28th.
I have been aware that in the wake of the past weeks political happenings, many are faced with such varied response and feelings. I am led to continue to share further words about grieving. I sense that the invitation to grieve is an overlooked path towards healing and perspective. This guy named Nehemiah actually found himself in the midst of the politics of his city and his day. It was a hard time. What did Nehemiah do? He grieved. For an extended time.
Let's learn from Nehemiah’s grief.
Nehemiah was a person just like you and I. He lived in a time when people from the city of Jerusalem were under attack and their city was left in ruins (pretty sad really when you think about it actually happening to us here). One of Nehemiah’s brothers came and reported that the people were in great trouble and disgrace and that the wall of Jerusalem was broken down and the gates burned. And then we get to see how Nehemiah responded to these hard, painful things.
This story tells us in the bible book of Nehemiah chapter 1 verse 4 that when Nehemiah heard this report, he SAT DOWN and WEPT. It says that for some days he MOURNED and FASTED and PRAYED before the God of heaven. The summary of what this says is that Nehemiah GRIEVED!
And check this out. When it said he did this for “some days” it was probably for around 4 MONTHS that he prayed, grieved and fasted. Wow. In the culture of instant gratification that we live in, imagine staying in something for 4 months. Imagine what God might have grown in Nehemiah over that time! Imagine that growth in you.
You can actually check out Nehemiah’s prayer in chapter 1 starting with verse 5. Let me highlight what happens while Nehemiah prays. His focus is on God, not simply griping about a problem. He confesses his own sin instead of pointing fingers. He prayed and kept on praying (day and night it says). He declared a promise of God from the past as a hope for the current trouble they were in. As his praying continues, he was given new perspective on the problem as he began to understand the ROLE HE WOULD PLAY in answer to his own prayer! Thanks be to God! He would leave the comfort and security of his royal job to help his people. He was moved by God to invest himself in a project bigger than himself. His 4 months of grieving and praying and fasting THEN led him into GODLY ACTION!
TAKE A STEP.
*In what way does this story interface with you and your heart?
*What is stirring in you about grieving, praying and fasting?
*What is one way that you could practice any of these 3 currently?
Imagine what God might grow in you over 4 months of grieving.
Imagine what God might grow in you over 4 weeks of grieving.
Imagine what God might grow in you over 4 days of grieving.
Imagine what God might grow in you over 4 hours of grieving.
Imagine what God might grow in you over 4 minutes of grieving.
What's my point? The point isn't the numbers. The thought is.....There's value in slowing with God to process the joy, wonder, pain and wounds of your heart. He set it up that way.
There's more.