Life and Grief at Christmas

Last year, my husband passed away a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving. Yet I felt thankful that we’d had decades together. Thankful, too, that he no longer suffered and that, thanks to Hospice and the grace of God, he was able to stay home.

A few years earlier, my older sister endured months of chemotherapy with a positive attitude and a strong determination to make it at least until Christmas. She did. With all three of her grown children around her, she lived through Christmas day then passed away just before midnight.

Later, someone asked if that would mar the holidays for our family forever, but no. We rejoiced in God’s grace that granted her final request.

We know we’ll see our loved ones again, but still we grieve. Countless others do too, and for many, the losses seem especially hard during the holidays. If that’s true for you, I pray the things that helped me will comfort you too.

God’s Word brings comfort.

Isaiah 53:3 prophesied what Jesus would one day endure, which reminds us that the Lord understands. “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief,” King James Version (KJV.)

With the wisdom of God and His human experiences, Jesus knew what He was talking about when He said, “Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted,” Matthew 5:4, KJV.

The Apostle Peter also understood grief and wrote, “After you have suffered for a while, the God of all grace Who called you to His eternal glory in Christ will restore, confirm, strengthen, and settle you. To Him belongs power forever. Amen,” 1 Peter 5:10-11.

Psalm 30:5 reminds us, “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning,” KJV.

Writing out our feelings can be comforting.

Grief reaches into
the grave. Pulls up memories.
Waits for God’s comfort.
…

Lord, help us to get
out of this shadow of death
and into Your Light.
…

Weeping lasts the night,
but joy comes through the mourning
when we live in Christ.
...

Prayer brings comfort.

Our Heavenly Father listens and responds to our prayers, even if we only say, “God, help!” The Lord welcomes our spontaneity in talking with Him, and, if we’re too weary for words, His Holy Spirit prays on our behalf.

As Romans 8:216 promises, “The Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know what we should pray for, but the Holy Spirit intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.”

Throughout the Bible, we can find prayers that speak to and for us. For example, this prayer not only expresses what we might feel, it gives us encouragement and hope:

2 Corinthians 1:3–7 – a prayer of Paul
(as paraphrased in the Book of Bible Prayers)

"We praise You, God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ – Father
of compassion and God of all
comfort, Who comforts us in all
our troubles, so we can comfort
those in trouble with the comfort
we ourselves have received from
You. For as the sufferings of Christ
comes into our lives, so also the
comfort of Christ pours upon us.

If we suffer distress, let it be used
for the hope of Your people.

If we receive comfort, let it be used
to soothe others, thereby producing
the ability to endure patiently the 
distresses we all suffer.

And so our hope is for Your people
to stand firm, because we know
that, as they share in our trials,
they also share in our relief."

Amen.

Thank you for sharing this space with me and adding what has helped you in the Comments section below.

Now may the Lord bring you comfort, encouragement, hope, and peace in Jesus’ Name.

Have a blessed Christmas and New Year!

 

Writing with the Promises of God

Our writings in almost any genre will stay on track and be more powerful with a theme and purpose we believe to be important. As Christians, that purpose often stems from our desire to spread the Good News of the Gospel and to encourage readers in their faith.

To find a purposeful theme, we can look to God’s word and, specifically, God’s promises. For example, I’ve developed entire stories from Romans 8:28, “And we know God will work all things for the good of those who are called according to His purpose.”

With that Bible promise in mind, a novel can develop as the main character faces hard times until the last chapter when a change of circumstances or an insightful resolution brings something unexpected and wonderful.

Whether you write fiction, nonfiction, or poetry, your favorite Bible promises provide themes for your work too.

I wanted to know more about those promises because it seemed to me they offered the key to praying in God’s will. So I researched hundreds of Bible promises, then compiled them into the book, Kneeling on the Promises of God, with a brief prayer as an example guided by each verse.

Since I also wanted to know what promises mean the most to others, I searched online and asked a group of Christians to share their favorites. Not surprisingly, John 3:16 (and 17) rate the highest:

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved,” “John 3:16-17, King James Version (KJV)

After John 3:16, the most often prayed promise comes from Jeremiah 29:11, “"For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a future and a hope’."

Other Christians gain hope from Matthew 6:33: ^“Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
 

Although I haven’t written about this, John 10:29 has encouraged me greatly when I start to worry about loved ones who have drawn far away from the Lord. As Jesus promised, “My Father, Who gave them to Me, is greater than all! No one can snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”

And when we ourselves drift too far, Jesus reminds us, “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world,” Matthew 28:20.

With hundreds of Bible promises to choose from, you have themes to last a lifetime of writing! May God guide your choices and your writing life in Christ.

 

Mary Harwell Sayler
who thanks God for promises never broken

 

 

 

 

The Necessity Many Christian Poets and Writers Lack

 

You pray. You help others. You’re generous with your time and talents. Most likely you’ve attended church worship services with fellow believers. But, if you have not read the Bible cover to cover and continued to read and study God’s Word, your writing will lack spiritual depth and accuracy, and your readers will _____. (Fill in the blank.)

Many of us grew up in a Christian environment and heard Bible stories from a young age. Those stories helped to shape us into people with character, but sometimes they left us thinking we had to be perfect. They weren’t! Male or female, every biblical giant had some flaw, but most Bible stories for children don’t mention that part! And so, we endlessly strive or think we’ll never be good enough for God. If, however, we read the full stories as an adult, that deeper acquaintance with the Bible will remedy a skewed perspective.

Other young Christians heard about God’s wrath, but seldom (if ever) heard about God’s forgiveness and love. Out of context, an abundance of God’s punishment might make anyone think the Lord is downright mean! He’s not. It’s just that what we knew – or thought we knew – about the Lord came from a childhood view.

When, as an adult, you read the Bible for yourself, you’ll see how patient and, yes, hurt God was by the flagrant disregard of His people for His word, and eventually, He said, “That’s enough!” The idea was to discipline and gather up His people to Himself, so they could live under His guidance, wisdom, protection, provision, and healing grace. But, often, they just wanted to do what they wanted when they wanted without restrictions, even if that meant turning their backs on God’s kind, good, and loving intentions.

Are we any different? I ask because I’ve been involved with various groups of Christian poets and writers and frequently see self-help influences instead of godly principles. For example, think positively, picture success, and it will come. Really? If that were so, who would need God? We’d be our own gods, but I don’t want to be!

I don’t know what the future will bring, but I trust God to work it out for good. I don’t know how to restore Christians to loving fellowship instead of back-biting or polarization, but with God, nothing is impossible. I don’t know how to heal people, but God does, and our loving Heavenly Father knows when it’s time and when it’s not and why.

As you read the Bible again, notice the many, many promises of God and pray in agreement, knowing you’re agreeing with God’s will. Notice how patient and long-suffering and merciful God is. Get to know Him well from His word, and you’ll be able to speak beautifully, bountifully, and powerfully on His behalf in all you write. 

And get to know, really know, Jesus.

You do know, of course, that God sent His own Son to bring all peoples back to Himself, for, through Christ, forgiveness restored our relationship with our Heavenly Father and resuscitated our spiritual lives. As we read the Gospels again and again, we get to know God more intimately through Jesus Christ, which then enables us to represent the Lord reliably and accurately in the Name of Jesus.

 

Mary Harwell Sayler