Clearing the Table of Unspoken Griefs

What have you not said to God, lately, that you need to say?

Has your grief, your disappointment, your lost-ness become such a big pile that it’s taken over the kitchen table of your soul?

It’s easy to numb. It’s even easier to get busy, to stay distracted, to stay distant.

I get it.

I feel like a fish out of water lately. I literally feel like I might just die without social contact. I am weary and tired of disconnection and being a highly extroverted person, I can’t find my place among the crowd, without a crowd.

I’ve needed to raise my fists in the air a few times lately and state my complaint loudly. I cannot, I should not, continue walking away from my pile of confusion, fear, and hopelessness but must lay it all out, and pull it all apart before Him, before I can feast with him.

We NEED to feast with our savior. We need to dine with Him, and to do that, it requires our souls to face the mess, and talk to Him about it.

How do you do that?

Here are three small steps you can take to invite Jesus into the pain of your unspoken griefs and grow your intimacy with Christ:

Lament

Look at the laments of David. He did NOT shy away from big words, hard words, exaggerative, over the top, descriptive, anguished cries. God, I might just die if I cannot have community. I feel lost. More lost than a fish in a desert. More lonely than a star in the heavens. I am aching and weary and I just don’t think I can possibly go on much longer like this.

Say it like it is. How it really feels right now in your lostness.

Then pause, take a deep breath, and listen.

Listen

Listen to God’s words to you and His reminders to you of all that He has done in the past. You have never abandoned me. You have never forsaken me. You provided for every one of our needs in Canada- even a bouncy castle for Naomi’s birthday! Homeschool curriculum just when it was needed! A home! Walks in nature!

List

List it all out. The gratitude, the times of provision, direction, and His presence.

Let your heart remember how it was before this freaking pandemic, and how He’s provided during it.

It is easy to let grief write the story of your experiences. Let gratitude write it instead.

Christ is inviting us to dine with Him. He wants a place at the table with our souls. He wants to bear witness to our griefs and unspoken experiences and be with us in it. As you lay out your pain in these 3 steps, you can experience closer connection with Christ whether the lockdowns are two more weeks or two thousand.

What of these steps do you find the hardest to do? Would you leave a comment below so we can continue encouraging each other to move closer in instead of running away?

As we clear the table of our griefs, He will set a feast before us of His presence. A feast that will satisfy as nothing in the world can.