Grief: A Time for Healing and Restoration

Sometimes, it’s easy to look around us and question why some people appear to have it all—no stress, worries, sickness, death, or loss. However, things aren’t always as they seem to be. Life has both blessings and challenges. Although we will all experience difficulties and loss in life, if we hold on to our faith and the hope we have in Jesus, we will also discover that in our grief, a time for healing and restoration is possible.

There was a point in my journey when I felt my grief so profoundly that healing and restoration seemed so far off and unattainable. Yet, I firmly believed both were possible. God is a god of healing and deliverance. Is it easy? Not always. Will it take time? Definitely. While walking the grief journey, I didn’t wake up one day with my heart totally healed and restored. He’s restoring me piece by piece and day by day.

Many years ago, my mother-in-law gifted my husband and me with two antique pieces of furniture in his family for over 130 years. It was such a sweet and generous gesture, and while we didn’t want to disappoint her when we saw their condition, we couldn’t imagine them in our brand-new home. Each piece had beautiful stained, leaded glass shaped like intricate diamonds on the doors. However, they hadn’t been adequately cared for in many years, and the wood had a heavy layer of what appeared as dark black lacquer. Not wanting to offend her, we took the pieces home and promptly placed them in the garage.

After several weeks and many hours of research, we decided to try to restore the pieces ourselves. We spent many weekend hours with steel wool in hand, repeatedly cleaning, stripping, and scrubbing. Slowly, we removed the black layer accumulated over many years of neglect. About the time I was ready to give up, I began to see some light shining through from the heavy darkness on the buffet. A little excitement began to stir within me as I saw the beauty beneath the surface. Below the thick black covering was a beautiful tiger oak wood. This gave me the incentive I needed to continue scrubbing and sanding.

These inanimate objects mean nothing to God but imagine, just like the beauty hidden under the surface of that dark, black wood, our Heavenly Father longs to remove the heavy darkness that has settled over our broken hearts. Jesus longs to bring healing to us, and while it may not be instantaneous, I’m confident He will bring hope after loss, and in our grief, healing, and restoration will begin to manifest themselves within your hearts.