TRANSCENDING GRIEF

TRANSCENDING GRIEF
Monday, July 27, 2026 by Linda Wood Rondeau

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

(Matthew 5:4 NIV)

“I don’t understand it,” I told my friend. “When Dad passed away, I mourned, but not for a long time. Why is it so hard to get over my mother’s death?”

Like many people, I thought grief could be measured in days, weeks, and months. I wanted to take a pill and get over the uncomfortable feelings. But in reality, grief is not something we get over. Loss is permanent. But we can get through the pain of change and emerge stronger in our faith.

The International Bible Society’s treatise on grief states:

And yet, according to Scripture, grief is not entirely negative. It gives us a heart of wisdom—it deposits a spiritual and emotional understanding that is not found on the outskirts of human existence, but at the very center of what it really means to be alive.

Any loss can cause grief, including loss of personal relationships, physical health, income, financial security, or freedom. Seemingly less significant issues may cause us to mourn, such as moving away from home, changing jobs, selling the family home, or retirement.

Grief hurts.

The body may go through a host of physical reactions such as fatigue, nausea, lowered immunity, weight loss or weight gain, aches and pains, and insomnia. Initially, one may feel shocked or be in a state of disbelief, then profound sadness. Some experience grief due to words said or not said, actions taken or not taken, and feelings felt or not felt. Significant loss may trigger intense fear. Some are angry and direct that anger toward God. One mourner confessed, “I shook a fist at God for five years.”

Doubt is not evidence of a lack of faith unless we allow our doubt to keep us from the One who has the answers. When the father of a possessed boy brought him to Jesus to be healed, he was asked if he believed. He replied, “I believe, but help my unbelief. (see Mark 9).

Many scriptures remind the believer that loss is a common human experience. Jesus understands our loss because He himself experienced loss. Though divine, he became flesh and willingly surrendered to the associated indignities of the flesh. His obedience led to His death on the cross. (see Philippians 2:6)

Isaiah 53 shows us how the Messiah would die to alleviate our grief. Other scriptures tell us that Christ binds up our wounds. The Hebrew word translated as bind up means to wrap around. Christ wraps His Grace around us to help us transcend to a place of peace. Our Lord understands our pain. He is the Someone who passed through grief’s door and came out the other side. Though we may never know the why, we know the Who.

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.

(Hebrews 4:15 NIV)

FOR MORE FREE DEVOTIONALS BY LINDA WOOD RONDEAU/free-resources

LESSONS ALONG THE WAY

From the author of I Prayed for Patience: God Gave Me Children and Who Put the Vinegar in the Salt

Life is a series of adventures. And each adventure shows us more about our God … his power manifested or his gentle patience demonstrated.

God is with us through the mundane and the miraculous, always teaching us how to experience him fully and lean on him every day.

As in the hymn of old, God leads along—sometimes through troubled waters, sometimes through fire, and sometimes by quiet streams. Always, he is with us, directing us, guiding us, and teaching us what obedience, trust, and love truly mean.

Adapted from her long-running newspaper column, each devotional is a revelation of one of God’s many blessings.

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