Part 1

Hello ,

Loss rarely arrives gently.

It crashes in. A diagnosis you didn’t expect. A divorce you never imagined signing. A betrayal that rewrites your understanding of someone you trusted. A death that leaves silence where laughter once lived. A disappointment that quietly dismantles the future you were building.

And in that moment, faith doesn’t feel strong.

It feels shaken.

Scripture does not pretend otherwise. 

When Lazarus died, Jesus stood at the tomb and wept (John 11:35). The Son of God did not rebuke grief. He entered it. That alone tells us something profound: sorrow is not a sign of spiritual failure.

David wrote in Psalm 34:18, “The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart.” 

Notice that nearness is promised not in strength, but in fracture. God does not withdraw when we are shattered. He draws close.

But when loss hits, something deeper happens. 

• Divorce can destabilize your identity. 
• Death can hollow out your sense of normal. Betrayal can fracture your ability to trust. 
• Illness can strip away control. 
• Disappointment can quietly erode hope.

The danger is not grief. The danger is isolation—from others and from God.

Consider Job. In a matter of days he lost his children, his wealth, and his health. Scripture says, “He fell to the ground and worshiped” (Job 1:20). 

That does not mean he understood. 

He did not. 

It means he chose direction. 

When everything collapsed, he turned toward God, not away from Him.

History gives us another picture. In a Nazi concentration camp, Corrie ten Boom watched her sister die after months of brutal imprisonment. The suffering was unjust. The grief unbearable. Yet Corrie later testified that God’s presence was most tangible in the darkest places. She did not deny the horror. She refused to interpret it as abandonment.

When loss shatters your world, faith may not feel triumphant.

• It may feel confused.
   
• It may feel fragile.
   
• It may feel quiet.

But faith is not measured by emotional steadiness. It is measured by orientation.

If you are still turning toward God—even through tears—you have not lost your faith.

• Loss can break your expectations.
   
• It can break your plans.
   
• It can even break your heart.

It does not have to break your relationship with God.

When faith hurts, stay pointed toward Him.

That is where endurance begins.

Musical Reflection: It Is Well With My Soul

Have a great day and God bless you!

Pastor Mike / The Open Word