Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: MOURNING / MORNING (02/02/23)
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TITLE: No Mourning In The Morning | Previous Challenge Entry
By Doug Laird
02/07/23 -
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Recovering from the inevitable grief associated with the departure of a loved one is a five-step process consisting of denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.
Learning and applying divine viewpoint can go along way in experiencing a faster recovery.
Some of us will pass through each stage relatively quickly (2), whereas for others, it takes more time to overcome the hurdles associated with each stage of the process.
Among the hurdles, there is guilt (real and imagined), uncertainty of where the departed soul might have gone, and adjusting to the new challenges that the departed one’s absence will generate.
Denial is in view when we think or act as if the departed soul is still here. Our memories of the departed one, good or bad, are still here, but the departed soul is not. There is no soul in a corpse lying on a death bed, in a casket, at a funeral, in an urn, or buried in a cemetery.
For some, it is not until all the traditional post mortem activities (wakes/funerals) have been completed that the reality of the death sets in and denial is overcome.
Anger sets in, when we hold God, ourselves, other people, or others things, responsible for either having not intervened, or having caused the death. God doesn’t make mistakes, but when and where human responsibility actually exists, the need to forgive ourselves and others will transform our anger into peace of mind.
Bargaining usually takes place before the death occurs, making all kinds of promises to God if He will not allow the death to occur. Should the person then die, many disgruntled bargainers will respond by embracing negative thoughts and actions, to their own hurt. The devil will be right there to facilitate their destruction (3).
Depression can set in until we acknowledge that it was not a part of God’s plan for the departed individual to be here to continue to participate in ongoing or future events here on Earth.
Christians are often heard praying for God’s will to be done (4), but what they really mean is for THEIR will to be done. This is evidenced by the negative responses in view when His expressed will runs contrary to their prayer requests.
Nothing happens, good or bad, without first passing through the omniscient and omnipotent hands of God. Accordingly, everything that happens or fails to materialize is an expression of His direct, permissive, or over-ruling will.
Acceptance goes beyond simply acknowledging that the fact that departure has taken place. Acceptance requires that we acknowledge the departure as being the manifestation of God’s direct, permissive, or over-ruling will, for the individual involved, serving a divine purpose (5).
Until one arrives at acceptance, having addressed the many obstacles along the way, the cloud of mourning remains.
Moving forward, the death of a loved one can be the ultimate Romans 8: 38 tests of faith for the one’s left behind.
I am not one that is unfamiliar with the impact that death can have on human beings. There was a relatively short period of time before I was twenty-five that several deaths (grandfather, grandmother, father, mother, and a still-born son) occurred, one after another, like the relentless incoming waves of a hurricane making landfall during a high tide.
In addition, throughout my 30 year law-enforcement career, I found myself dealing with the aftermath of homicides, suicides, accidental, and sudden deaths.
Jesus taught that believers who mourn are blessed (6). They are not blessed by the pain that death can bring, but by the hope that the Gospel Message brings into the picture. This principle was reiterated by the Apostle Paul in 1Thessalonians 4: 16, 17.
The promise of a reunion with departed believers is for the comfort (7) of born-again believers here on Earth (5), but no such reunion is in view with or for departed unbelievers (8).
Therefore, our greatest mourning should be over the ones who leave this world as unbelievers.
In closing, keep in mind that, “Precious in the sight of the Lord Is the death of His godly ones (Psalms 116: 15 NASB),”
There is a coming world (9) where death and the accompanying periods of mourning will no longer be a part of the human experience (10).
There will be no mourning when that morning dawns.
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(1) Heb. 9: 27) (2) 2Sam. 12: 16-23 (3) 1Pet.5: 8 (4) Matt. 6: 10 (5) Romans 8: 28 (6) Matt. 5: 4) (7) 1Thess. 4: 18 (8) Rev.20: 15 (9) Rev. 21 (10) 1Cor. 15: 54, 55
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You do a nice job of writing on topic and your choice of verses and words will really help those in mourning. You did a fine job of using both topic words too. I think these words are a great reminder for those hurting. Good job.
God Bless~