How do we deal with grief (and anger) as Christians?
In a world where grief and anger are all too common, as Christians, we often find ourselves at a crossroad—do we act upon the grief and anger that we feel, or do we continue to trust in God believing that He will work it together for our good? (Romans 8:28)
In the upcoming film GOD’S NOT DEAD: A LIGHT IN DARKNESS, Reverend Dave finds himself in the fight of his life, defending the very ground that his church stands on. Just like anyone else, Reverend Dave discovers that grief comes with a host of complex emotions, including anger.
Trusting God through the trial is much easier said than done. One essential component that we must realize is that God didn’t intend for us to understand everything. He just calls us to be obedient and trust Him through everything.
Think about it like this. We would be crazy to believe our physical muscle would grow without first going through some trials in the weight room. And after the strenuous workouts, we have a restoration process where we consume protein, drink amino acids and we rest our bodies. And in that restoration process, our muscles begin to heal and become larger and stronger than they were before.
Well, our spiritual muscle is the same way: without first going through some trials, we would never reach our full potential as the man or woman that God has called us to be. After trials break our spiritual muscle down, we also have a restoration process. In that restoration process, we choose to worship instead of worry, we choose to pray instead of panic and we choose to have faith instead of fear. When your restoration process goes like that, your spiritual muscle begins to grow.
When we are grieving, when we’re angry, it’s so easy to focus on how big the mountain is ahead of us instead of how big the God is inside of us. God knows troubles are coming in this world. He knows there will be sorrow and anger in this world. That’s why in John 16:33, Jesus says, “In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
God teaches us how to respond and grow through trials because He knows trials are coming. And let me add this – your current trials do not change God’s faithfulness. Grieving is tough, there’s no way around it, but it’s helpful to remember that every trial we go through has significance when the Savior is involved.