My wife of 50+ years died, unexpectedly. Grief was strong, and later, too long. I discovered something that helped wonderfully. I wonder how much what I found can help you….
Grief or other feelings can be too strong and last so long that the pain is overwhelming. Life is interfered with. I tried some experiments that made a huge change, and I encourage you to experiment and explore too – to see what works for you and how well it works.
This seems to work well with every kind of overwhelm I’ve experienced and experimented with. I believe this will help you, too; and it’s easy!
So…what experiments have I tried that helped so much? Simple ones.
- I asked Holy Spirit to fill me more, or to be filled more with Holy Spirit. Gladly received by faith. Not a big deal – just asking. Holy Spirit came, gently and quietly. Grief was still present, but became pretty small – and quite manageable. I still felt what I need to feel without denial. And without grief overwhelming my life.
- I remembered to put the Kingdom of God first. Sometimes right standing with God and Kingdom of God first. All my values automatically re-ordered. Correctly and well. And Grief stopped being at the top as when I was caught up in Grief and inadvertently made an idol out of it.
Both of these approaches worked well. Every time. That’s amazing.
I’m wondering what other human experiences can be improved by doing these things – I look forward to more exploration and experimentation.
It is wonderful that now I find I am automatically applying asking for more of Holy Spirit at other times when I become unresourceful. Other kinds of pain are helped and the habit is spreading. Feels like this spreading is automatic. This is better than I expected.
I wonder what will happen when you experiment with this. I’d love to learn, and to hear from you.