For anyone who has experienced the loss of a loved one and you’re struggling, please go find a Griefshare class you can attend!! They have them around the country and you can also do the course online…I think.

The devotional I read for it today, really stood out to me!! Sometimes we “know” things, but re-reading them again provides us with a new way of seeing them or reminds us of Truths we have forgotten.

Today, the focus was on Joseph in Genesis 50:19-21. He is confronted with the very brothers who sold him into slavery. That slavery got him thrown into jail as an innocent man and literally forgotten about. But God never left him or forgot about him! And Joseph chose to hold onto that faith in God! When Joseph faces his brothers, he has the power to literally destroy their lives, but offers them forgiveness and provision. Why? He says, “you intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives”.

Here’s the question asked in my Griefshare book today, “What good things did God accomplish through a very bad situation?”. For anyone who knows this biblical account, we know that God rescued all of Israel out from slavery! Next question, and this one is where it hit me, “why do you think God wants you to know that he always brings good out of what is bad?”. Here’s what I wrote, “so that we will trust Him…implicitly…EVEN IF we NEVER see the bigger plan!”. Wow!

We will and do experience so much heartache in this life! We may never know “why”, but we can trust a good God to always do what is right! Right after I lost Clint, honestly, I was struggling to even care what good could come from it. In fact, selfishly, I didn’t want to care! I just wanted him here with me! And, I told God that! I confessed it to Him all the time. But, I would tell Him I knew that was not right and I begged Him to help me and to help me keep walking in what I KNEW was true but my heart was having an extremely hard time accepting! I love Him so much for patiently sitting with me in that dark place! He knew what my grief journey would be like before I ever even entered it. And He loved me through it!

Here’s the prayer from the Griefshare book today, “God, it doesn’t feel right to even consider that good might come out of my loved one’s death. But, this is where I think I know what’s going on, when really I don’t. Help me understand that there is a bigger picture. You know what You’re doing”. Quote by Larry Crabb, “When bad things happen, I start wondering, ‘God, are You really good?’. That’s where the cross comes in: how can you argue that God isn’t good if He did that? If He sent His Son to die for me, then I’ve got to say that He is really good!”.

And, last quote by Lois Rabey, “Be intentional about reminding yourself of God’s goodness and looking at the bigger picture.”

I find that when I keep His goodness and love in the forefront of my mind, it gives me the most incredible ability to face nearly every day with confidence that I CAN do whatever He calls me to! I may cry while I’m doing it, but I may laugh too! I KNOW Who’s I am! I KNOW where I’m going! I KNOW where Clint went! And I KNOW God has a purpose for me here on this planet! I intend to FULLY live this life until God calls me Home and I get to hear, “Well done good and faithful servant” from Jesus and then hear Clint say, “I was watching and you didn’t give up! I am so proud of you!”.

I long for that day!!!! But, I fully intend to DO this life the best I know how until then!!!