…it can happen abruptly. One minute you’re happy and joyous in the Lord because He blessed you with such a beautiful life and then, suddenly, you get a phone call that changes your life.
A hard blow to the gut, grief knocks us off balance. I don’t know of any woman who schedules an appointment with grief. Nonetheless, pain continues to pursue each of us, demanding our attention.
Ecclesiastes 3:1 & 4 says,
“There is an appointed time for everything.
And there is a time for every event under heaven-
A time to weep and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn and a time to dance.”
There is an appointed time for everything, the Bible says. It is so easy to forget this truth when we encounter the first signs of a difficult season, but these verses can anchor us.
Seasons of mourning have an appointed time.
There is a time to weep and a time to mourn. The time will come for all of us. Our lives will submit to the appointment of weeping and mourning. One of the greatest tragedies in our society is that we perpetuate perfection and happiness through social media even when we know there are tears secretly shed behind the screen. Everyone thinks everyone else is happy. But, if we’re honest, we all know that we experience sadness and those moments may never make their way to your social media feed, but tears have made their way down your cheek. Women now and women of the Bible are all women acquainted with sadness and grief.
In the Book of Ruth (one of my favorites!) we see a woman of God enter a season of grief and mourning.
Now it came about in the days when the judges governed, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the land of Moab with his wife and his two sons. The name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife, Naomi; and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem in Judah. Now they entered the land of Moab and remained there. Then Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died; and she was left with her two sons. They took for themselves Moabite women as wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. And they lived there about ten years. Then both Mahlon and Chilion also died, and the woman was bereft of her two children and her husband.
Ruth 1:1-5
Naomi, without warning, entered a season of mourning. Her husband and two children died. Sisters, can we sit with this reality for one moment. Death has such a sting and Naomi was stung by death three times. I wish I could have shared Ecclesiastes 3:1 & 4 with Naomi to remind her of God’s faithfulness. To remind her that there is a time for grief, but also a time to dance.
What we believe through the Word of God and in faith, Naomi learned through a devastating experience.
As the season of mourning ushers into your life, it’s important to remember that it is just for a season. The only way the Earth receives bloom in Spring is because the process of leaves falling and decay to ensue. The Earth allows itself to experience the process.
Then she arose with her daughters-in-law that she might return from the land of Moab, for she had heard in the land of Moab that the Lord had visited His people in giving them food.
Ruth 1:6
Though Naomi suffered from losing her husband and her two sons, she AROSE to seek the land the Lord had visited. What a testament to how we can get through seasons of mourning and grief. Sisters and friends, we first have to decide to rise. It won’t be easy, but the Lord did not create His children to stay stuck in the tomb. After all, even our Savior rose! When we decide to rise and seek the Lord, we can always be sure to find Him; and where God is there is His strength also.
You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.
Jeremiah 29:13
Just as surely as seasons of mourning have an appointed time to come, they also have a designated time to go. Naomi’s story didn’t end in grief, and it ended in joy! We’ll get to her redemption story in a few weeks. Just know, a season is only for a season. While we never fully recover from mourning those we’ve lost, we can grow in our understanding of who God is and trust that He will always comfort us with love and peace.
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”
Psalm 46:1