Few people, if any, welcome grief into their lives. And yet it comes. Sometimes it is subtle, other times overwhelming. But, how can we cope with the pain? Stuff it? Avoid it? Pretend it isn?t there? Attempt to deal with it later? As Carol Fitzpatrick points out, there are right ways, and wrong ways, to heal our grief. Sooner or later we all encounter grief. Our choices, from that initial point, will profoundly impact us for good or for bad. God allows grief for divine purposes and for our good. But, we can miss out on His provision and purpose even do ourselves harm?if we don?t allow Him to walk us through the essential steps of the grieving process. God doesn?t forsake us, or ask us to understand the grieving process without His guidance. Jesus, Himself, experienced the grief of physical pain, abandonment, loneliness and rejection, yet was never derailed from the Father's plan.
