Let It Be: When Grief Unravels Your Thought Garden

by Laura Jenkins

The waves of grief are exhausting. They leave us worn out, weary, and exhausted, and they often cause us to think things like: “Why am I still feeling like this?” “What’s wrong with me?” “When will the pain stop?” “I must be crazy. Everyone else seems fine.” Grief is harsh and undoing. Of course it is––you lost someone you love! Life has been turned completely upside down and inside out. There is no getting over grief, but there is a way through. We all need a way through. We need to know there is hope and there is help. The way through starts with letting your grief be. Let it be whatever it is. We don’t have to try to change it; instead we can feel it, express it, and learn to walk alongside of it. We can learn the difficult emotions of grief aren’t here to harm us but to connect us. They connect us to the one we love and lost, connect us to our Savior, and connect us to ourselves.

Connection in grief brings hope, and there is nothing needed more in the waves of grief than hope. Grief and hope can coexist as we lean into our grief with our Savior by our side. Jesus’ love for you is incredibly compassionate, and we can show compassion to ourselves as we learn to live alongside our grief. We can learn how to carry what cannot be fixed this side of Heaven and bear witness to our losses, knowing our Savior does too.We are never alone––the One within us and around us knows the weight of grief and helps us carry the heaviest parts.