In his book, Through the Eyes of a Lion, Levi Lusko calls grief an endurance sport. Nothing could be more accurate. I have run many sprints during my earthly life – the challenges of finishing school and graduating, the hunt for a job, the break-ups, financial struggles, illnesses, recovery from a surgery. Unlike all of those events that had a start and end time, grief is different. It has a start time. There is a dot on a timeline where my life changed in an instant. But it doesn’t have an end time. At least not here.
There will not come a day this side of Heaven, that I will round that last turn to give it one more big push, cross the finish line, wipe the sweat from my forehead and boldly proclaim that I have overcome my grief. It isn’t something that is overcome, it is something that is endured. As long as I live, I will miss Joshua. I will miss him during the big moments in life and in small random moments. Not because I am wallowing in self-pity, but because he was supposed to be here. My future included him. It wasn’t supposed to be this way.
Now that we are all sufficiently depressed, is there anything that I can do about it? Yes!
They say that knowledge is power. I have the knowledge that I am going to grieve losing him for the rest of my life, so I also have the power to make choices as to what I do with this grief.
I could stay home whine, be bitter, and sad the rest of my life. Trust me, there are days that option is so incredibly tempting.
Or, I could share our story. Not for sympathy or pity. Not to compete with others to see whose story is worse. Instead, I could share our story so that others see Jesus because Jesus is where we find out hope! Everyone has a story and everyone’s story is filled with agony and broken spirits. They are also filled with God’s goodness and blessings. They are filled with His mighty power. They are filled with His promises.
Our stories bring glimmers of hope. And there is nothing more powerful than the tiniest glimmer of hope. Hope can give our heart the desire to keep pressing forward. It can give our bodies a bit more energy to do the next thing. It can lift our spirits enough to see that the sun is still rising every morning and God still sits on the throne of Heaven.
Your story may not be grief. It may be chronic illness, abuse, mental health. Whatever adversity you have overcome, when you tell your story someone hears about Jesus. And that is where they find their own hope. That hope gives them the strength to persevere.
I pray you find opportunities to share your story today so that others may see Jesus and find the tiniest glimmer of hope to cling to.
With Eyes on the Cross 