Navigating Life's Pits: Embracing Loss and Surrender

When you experience shock, you feel numb, and we talked in that message about crying out to God and letting others help me. We talked about how really you need other people in your life. You need Fellowship when you're shocked because you can't think straight, and other people need to think for you. [00:04:31]

Grief is God's way of getting us through the transitions of life. There is no life without change, no change without loss, no loss without pain, and no pain without grief. Grief is healthy. In fact, to not grieve is unhealthy. Grief is the only thing that makes you different from the animals. [00:05:02]

In struggle, you feel angry, and now you're starting to get frustrated. You're starting to get ticked off at God. You're getting a little angry at God and go, "Why is this happening?" That's the why questions of life. Remember, I talked last week about how you have to learn how to lament. [00:07:00]

Surrender is accepting reality. Here's what David did. Look there on your outline, 2 Samuel 12:22 and 23. David said this: "I fasted and I wept while the child was alive, for I thought perhaps the Lord would be gracious and let the child live. But why should I fast when he is dead?" [00:14:46]

Acceptance doesn't mean you stop caring. No, no. Acceptance doesn't mean it doesn't hurt. It does. Acceptance doesn't mean you even think that what happened is good. It's not. None of that's acceptance. Acceptance simply means I can't change it. David says, "My son has died, and I can't change that." [00:16:04]

When faced with adversity, you have three choices: let it destroy you, let it define you, or let it develop you. You can let it destroy you, you can let it define you, or you can let it develop you. Life can sometimes be challenging, isolating, and painful. [00:08:36]

King David, as he experienced the loss of his son, was able to focus on the hope that was ahead of him, believing that God wasn't finished. 2 Samuel 12:23, he says about his son, "I will go to him one day, but he cannot return to me." [00:18:36]

God never is content to let a single one of our stories end in ashes. He promises that he will bring beauty from ashes. Where I struggle is sometimes believing not that he will bring beauty from ashes, but how. How will he bring beauty from these ashes? [00:20:41]

In grief, one of the most challenging transitions I'm discovering is moving toward the future rather than hanging around in the past. That's a really challenging thing for me. Jerry Sitzer, who wrote a book that I recommended to you, "A Grace Disguised," lost his mother, wife, and four-year-old daughter in a car accident. [00:22:20]

When you try to figure out the future, you're grasping at things that are mine, Jesus says. This, like all forms of worry, is an act of rebellion, doubting my promises to care for you. Whenever you find yourself worrying about the future, Jesus says, repent and return to me. [00:24:56]

The past in your life, for good or bad, the good things and the bad things, they are seasonal, and they're not there. The past is past. Some of you, you've had a dream, and it didn't happen, and it's over. You need to get a new dream. You need to get a new vision. [00:18:20]

Surrender involves accepting what cannot be changed and trusting God with the outcome. It is the pathway to peace, allowing us to let go of control and open ourselves to God's blessings and growth. [00:07:54]