Grieve With Hope
Chaplain Wade Graber
February 25, 2021
Hey Team CareGivers (TCG Family and Friends)!
Grieve with hope! As I have been spending time with different families who have lost loved ones, I notice how differently people grieve. Grief is as unique as we are individuals and the distinctions of relationship with the one who passed away. Whether we see 5, 7, or 12 stages of grief, they don’t happen in any certain order, or with the same velocity, or we may not experience all of them. (Stages of grief include things like shock, denial, anger, depression, guilt, sadness, and acceptance). Individuals may want to be alone, while others desire to have people around them. Others want to stay away from shared familiar places, while others find comfort in those common locations. Some remain silent while others want to talk about it. There is no neat tidy formula for grieving. As I shared before, grief is random like “hot flashes”, according to my mom who suffers from dementia.
Whatever elements of grief that we experience, they are common feelings, thoughts, and emotions shared with other human beings. The stages and intensity of each one may be different, but the general experience is the same as we deal with any kind of loss. Paul did make one distinction of grieving the death of loved ones and that is the difference of grieving with hope. Don’t grieve “…as others who have no hope (I Thess. 4:13b).” The basis for his hope in the middle of sorrow is founded in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Hope in grief is another benefit that is granted to those who believe Jesus died and rose again. Jesus said, “Because I live, you will live also (Jn.14:19b).” The undeniable, historically factual, indescribably powerful resurrection of Jesus from the dead, among other things, shows us there is life after death and we can live and grieve in that hope.
It is vitally important to clarify the meaning of biblical hope verses our earthly concept of hope. We use the word hope in a wishful way that perhaps our expectations will come to pass. Biblical use of the word hope is more of a confident sure thing or done deal. Hoping a loved one is in heaven or that we are going to heaven when we die is not like “I hope that I make it into heaven”. It is an assurance that by the grace and mercy of God, you or your loved one is absolutely going to be in heaven forever! Wow!!!
Living this life in the context of hope/assurance of eternal life makes a difference in every facet of life, even our process of grief. Blessings!
In Him,
Wade
Chaplain Wade Graber
After serving as a church pastor for over four decades, Wade is now the director of Graber Ministries and the corporate Chaplain for TCG Services. Wade’s caregiving ministries take him to co-worker’s desks, down the street to local businesses, online to share life with clients, around the US, and across the ocean for church planting (primarily in Liberia), and sharing his writings and songs about “The Mission of the Holy Spirit."