Grief is a journey. It is the deep sorrow that affects you physically, emotionally, and spiritually—the devastation that follows loss. Often it comes through death, but there are many things we grieve: broken relationships, fading dreams, painful choices and consequences, even the loss of a beloved pet.

Grief is a natural response to pain and loss.

You can’t deny it, ignore it, or fake your way through it. It demands to be reckoned with.

“Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and body with grief. My life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning; my strength fails because of my affliction, and my bones grow weak.” Psalm 31:9-10 (NIV)

“The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them.” Psalm 145:18-19 (NIV)

The question isn’t whether grief will come—it’s where you’ll go with it when it does.

There are moments when sorrow feels too heavy to name, when you wonder who could ever understand it. You ask, What is the cure for this deep pain?

Healing doesn’t mean erasing. But it does mean comfort, peace, and hope.

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (NIV)

For those who belong to Him, grief looks different.

“Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.” 1 Thessalonians 4:13 (NIV)

Paul reminds us that believers grieve with hope. For those without Christ, death feels final—an ending without recovery or return. But for those whose lives are hidden in Christ, hope lives on.

God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. My loved one is with Him—and He will not return without them.

“But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” 1 Corinthians 15:20 (NIV)

This is the eternal perspective of the believer: even the deepest sorrow will one day seem like a momentary, light affliction.

“From the west, people will fear the name of the Lord, and from the rising of the sun, they will revere his glory. For he will come like a pent-up flood that the breath of the Lord drives along.” Isaiah 59:19 (NIV)

The enemy comes in like a flood, but the Spirit of the Lord lifts up a standard against him.

“He sent out his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave.” Psalm 107:20 (NIV)

“For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.” Psalm 30:5 (NIV)

Grieving will not destroy you. It will shape you—if you grieve God’s way, with hope.

Even in the darkness of grief and the depths of sorrow, there are treasures hidden there—lessons that can only be found when you allow God to meet you in the pain.

To the one sorting through the rubble of grief and learning to breathe again after loss—stop searching for what was. Begin looking for traces of what is now, for evidence of the One who still brings life from what has been broken.

Soul care for grief