The Pain Of Losing

How are you dealing with your loss? How did I know you were feeling the effects of a loss? Because life is full of them. I’ve even written about it before. We will all experience the pain of losing something…..love…..innocence…health…loved ones…dreams…possessions….jobs…reputation….trust….our vision for the future….the list can go on and on. The longer you live the more losses you face. Some people experience so much loss it leaves you shaking your head. Which doesn’t have to do with who they are as a person, it just happens. In some cases to escape they numb their pain by self medicating with food, drugs or alcohol, or illicit behavior. Some ignore their pain with keeping busy, work or obsessing about any and everything and some are mad at the world selecting targets with which to unleash their pent-up fury.

Many times while writing this blog I have referred to the Serenity Prayer and I am going to do it again. That prayer has personally gotten me through some very difficult times, which is why I feel it bears repeating. Here is what I find so beneficial. There are some things in life that just happen and we can do nothing about them. It doesn’t do any good to get stuck on things we can’t change. If we spend so much time obsessing over things we can do nothing about it distracts us, zaps our strength, our resolve and leaves very little energy for the things we can change. We end up telling ourselves why bother? And our lives will quietly, slowly spin out of control. This is a dangerous place to be, which is why we need wisdom to know what things to expend our energy on. The wisdom to “know the difference”.

It does no good and serves no purpose to live in the past. What is done is done. Jesus asks in Matthew 6:27 (NIV)..”Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” It is also futile to worry about the future. Jesus says in Matthew 6:34 (NIV) “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own”. That it is why it is so important to live one day at a time and each moment in time because before you know it the moment is gone and never coming back. And if what is going on at the moment isn’t good just remember that this to shall pass.

We all will experience seasons in our lives where things don’t seem to be working. We will experience loss, hardships and heartbreak. But you absolutely can come out on the other side. A friend gave me a refrigerator magnet that said “A woman is like a teabag, you don’t know how strong she is until she gets in hot water!” – Eleanor Roosevelt. So true. God can love you, teach you and guide you right through your pain and you will come out better for it if you realize that the absence of pain is not what proves God loves you. It’s Him being with you through it that shows you how much He cares.

We live in a sinful world and stuff happens, period. But when you trust that Jesus knows that, after all His very existence was predicated on that, then you can accept your hardship as the pathway to peace just as He did. Remember he had to go through the Cross to be our Savior. You can come to terms with this not so perfect world and maneuver your way through it by doing what you were put here to do and that is to receive and express the love of God when given the opportunity.

I don’t know about you but sometimes I don’t feel up to the challenge, especially when I’m going through. But this one thing I know, I trust that He will make all things work together for my good because I love and trust Him. Romans 8:28 (NIV) says: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose”. That’s how I get the strength to keep moving forward with His plan for my life. Things may not always pan out as I have planned but I trust Him. Knowing He is with me and for me gives me security, strength, peace and joy. I can only imagine the joy one day of seeing him face to face. God is pleased with you because of what Jesus did. He loves you and accepts you faults and all. Oh but how wonderful it would be to hear at the beginning of eternity “Well done thy good and faithful servant”. If you are going through hold on. God hasn’t changed, He’s not mad at you and is no respecter of persons. He loves you. Even in your darkest hour He really is there. Let Him in and hold on. Read each line of the Serenity Prayer it will help to get you through when things just don’t make sense.

SERENITY PRAYER

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time; Enjoying one moment at a time; Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will; That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him Forever in the next. Amen. “–Reinhold Niebuhr”