Recovering from loss

‘...Pour out your heart before Him...’ Psalm 62:8 NKJV

Here are five keys to recovering from loss: (1) Process your grief. Emotions like fear, anger, worry, depression, resentment, helplessness and grief are normal. It’s no good to suppress them or deny they exist. God created us to feel; He doesn’t expect us to act happy when we’re grieving. ‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.’ (Matthew 5:4 NIV) Be honest with God. ‘Pour out your hearts to Him,’ (Psalm 62:8 NIV) and He will comfort you. (2) Accept help. It’s a mistake to isolate yourself in the aftermath of a tragedy. We all need the encouragement and the support of others. We’re called to carry one another’s burdens ‘Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.’ (Galatians 6:2 NKJV) (3) Choose the right response. When you choose bitterness, you hurt yourself and shut the door on happiness because you can’t be happy and bitter at the same time. During some recent bushfires there were victims who said, ‘We’ve lost everything and we’re sad, but we’ll work together as a family and rebuild.’ Others said, ‘My life’s over! I can’t go on…I’ll never recover.’ You can choose to believe you’re on your own, or that God’s with you and bounce back. (4) Know your joy comes from God. There’s no correlation between your circumstances and your joy. Joy comes from within; it’s based on whom you trust, not what you see and feel. (5) Concentrate on what you have left, not on what you’ve lost. Make a list of the good things in your life, and thank God for what you still have. It’s impossible to be grateful and hopeless at the same time.