Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Jeremiah 8:18 - Heartfelt pain from the loss of a loved one

“My grief is beyond healing; my heart is broken.”

Jeremiah 8:18



Jeremiah once said that his grief was beyond healing and that his heart was broken. I can understand. When we lose a loved one, God may bring comfort in our lives, but when we fondly remember them we may get misty-eyed and cry. This happened to me today. I was remembering our beloved cat Trigger who passed away shortly after the girls got home from college this year. Our whole family still talks about how much we miss him. When we talk of the good times our eyes often get misty. Sometimes we just laugh and can relate with one another. Today, I was missing Trigger a lot. When I was talking to Brittney about the special times Trigger and I shared, I got misty-eyed. Later on today, after taking a nap, I came downstairs and Brittney was working on a project. She was sorting through old family pictures. She told me that she had a pile of pictures with Trigger in them. I immediately grabbed the pile and began to look through them. My heart broke. I sobbed and sobbed and sobbed looking at each and every one of them. I went to Dave so he could hug me as I was hurting so bad. There was pictures of Trigger that was just him. Then there were pictures of Trigger with Nicole. Nicole was only about 7 years old at the time. She was holding him (as a 7 year old would) and she was smiling from ear to ear. Trigger didn’t seem to mind being held that way either. There were pictures of Trigger with Dave. Dave looked so young! You could tell that Dave, too, was happy to be with the little guy. And the little guy was happy to be with Dave too. He was his bud. There was also a picture of him with Dave and Brittney. The only person in our family that there wasn’t a picture of Trigger with was me. And he was my perfect “little buddy.” God was good to have blessed us with Him for 13 years. And God is good to comfort us whenever our hearts ache and we feel deep pain.
I thank God that God changed Dave’s heart in the thought of getting another cat. Dave allowed us to adopt Kristoff from the humane society. I am excited and look forward to the special times we will share with him. We just got him yesterday. He has already been a blessing. We had to take him to the vet this morning to get him declawed. We get him back tomorrow morning. There is a newfound joy gladness, and excitement that God has put into all our hearts. We appreciate the fact that the Lord has gifted us with him. Even though we have a new cat in the home to love, Trigger will always hold a special place in our hearts.

Maybe you still grieve over the loss of a beloved spouse, mother, father, child, and/or pet. Maybe you can relate with Jeremiah. Although God comforts you, and time does seem to heal some wounds, you still ache over the loss of your departed one. My heart goes out to you. I can sympathize. I pray that God blesses you with many good memories with your beloved ones to cherish forever. I pray that God comforts you. I pray that He puts all your tears in the bottle that He has filled with all the other tears that you have ever shed since the day that you were born. Just knowing that He has this bottle with all the tears you’ve ever shed should help you to realize just how much He loves you and cares for you. Please, take some comfort in this. And give Him thanks.

May God bless you today. May God bless you always. May He put His loving arms around you and hold you close. Know that He loves you. Know that I love you! You mean not only a lot to Him, you also mean a lot to me.


Father, we can relate with the prophet Jeremiah’s words. We know that our departed loved ones will always have a special place in all of our hearts. The ache of their being gone will always be there. Comfort us always when the fond, heartfelt memories come. We know our brokenness opens the door for Your love and healing power to flood in. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.  

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