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Introduction:

I was spending time with a friend who recently lost her husband. As we talked, she pointed to a crack in the street and said she felt like there was this chasm dividing her and her husband similar to the crack in the road. Her husband is on one side of the chasm in Heaven and she is on the other side here on earth. She felt like some of the people in her life wanted to focus on what he is experiencing in Heaven- freedom from pain and suffering in the fullness of glory with Jesus. But she is on the earth side of the chasm, experiencing the pain of loss, and at the same time having to take care of all the logistics of the death of a partner. As much as she would like to engage in the experience of joy he is experiencing, the reality is that they are not in the same place and not having the same experience.

We read in Psalm 16 that life in Christ is fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore but the same author who wrote about joy in Psalm 16 also wrote about suffering and lament. Joy isn't found in the ignorance of suffering but first in unearthing the roots of heaviness and bringing them to the surface. Isaiah 61 speaks to those who are afflicted, brokenhearted, and bound. There is a promise that the “Lord will grant those who morn beauty for ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and praise instead of a faint spirit, so that they may be called oaks of righteousness.”

There are important steps to take before we can move into joy, and that is one of lament. Lament isn’t sitting alone in grief but acknowledging grief within the scope of God’s presence and care. When we read the words “joy comes in the morning” in Psalm 30, it doesn’t mean that we

go to bed grieving one night and wake up happy the next morning. The morning in Psalm 30 represents the time it takes to move out of darkness and heaviness, into the daylight. David speaks about his soul being in Sheol and in a pit, which is a place of darkness and death, and then contrasts it with God's mercy and help, which brings him into rejoicing. He beautifully wants to meet you right now in your despair by entering into your pain alongside you!

During this session, we are going to work on processing heaviness by uncovering the hidden things that might be contributing to it and making Jesus a part of that process. This is an opportunity to #1 Be honest about what is in your heart. #2 Be vulnerable with God about it #3 Identify any connection to a similar loss you felt in your past. #4 Identify any stories or beliefs you created based on your loss. We tend to create a story or belief system surrounding our emotions, trauma, or past events in our lives. It is an expectation that something will negative will happen because of a traumatic or disappointing event.