Finding Jesus in the Pain of Grief

Grief hits every single one of us. The overwhelming weight of loss, shattered dreams, or life's disappointments. In this intimate five-minute conversation, we explore how hope often intersects with our deepest sorrows.

What makes our faith unique in times of grief is that Jesus doesn't stand at a distance watching us squirm and struggle. 

Despite knowing He would soon perform a miracle, Jesus wept at the death of his friend, Lazarus. The shortest verse in scripture - "Jesus wept" reveals our Savior's heart – He steps directly into our pain, feeling every ache right alongside us. When grief whispers that joy will never return, Jesus counters with a promise: "You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy" (John 16:20).

If you're walking through sorrow today, remember grief doesn't play nicely. Some days will feel impossible, triggered by the most unexpected moments, and some days feel quite peaceful. But through it all, you will never walk alone! Jesus remains your comfort, your refuge, your living hope. He promises one day to wipe every tear from our eyes, but until then, He weeps alongside you.

Share this message with someone struggling with grief today, and remember that genuine hope has a name, and His name is Jesus.

Let us know what you think - send us a text here!!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Thank you so much for listening to your encouraging
five-minute podcast.
We're Eric and Heather and wehope that at the end of five
minutes you're going to feelencouraged and, if you are,
share this podcast with somebody.
But if you want a little bitmore encouragement, consider
listening to WPER, virginia'shome for encouragement.
Now, if you live outside theVirginia listening area, you can
listen on your smart speaker oryou can download the WPER app.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
So let's jump right in.
Talk about grief.
It's going to touch everysingle one of us at some point,
whether it's the loss of someonewe love, a dream that's died,
or even the slow, silent griefof life not turning out the way
we had hoped.
Grief's heavy, yeah it is, itchanges us, and if that's where
you are today, we just want tosay this you are not alone.

(00:48):
A few years ago I had a friend.
Mark lost his mom unexpectedlyand this came through a phone
call and that completely changedand shattered his world and he
told us later that grief feltlike waves at the beach.
Sometimes he could stand andget through it.
Sometimes it knocked him flatget through it.
Sometimes it knocked him flaton his back.

Speaker 1 (01:06):
That's a great description.

Speaker 2 (01:08):
He said what surprised him the most was how
lonely grief felt.
People meant well, but none oftheir words could really touch
the ache inside.
And maybe you felt that he saidI just wanted someone to sit in
the pain with me, not fix it,not explain it, just be there.
And isn't that what our heartslong for Someone to just see us
in our grief and stay with uswhen it gets really

(01:31):
uncomfortable.

Speaker 1 (01:32):
You know, what comforts the most is that Jesus
knew and knows how grief feels.
There's a moment in the book ofJohn where Jesus gets to the
tomb of his friend Lazarus.
When he walks up, jesus knowshe's about to raise Lazarus from
the dead.
He knows the ending is victory.
But yet when Jesus walks up onthe scene he sees Lazarus's

(01:59):
sisters, mary and Martha, whoare crying.

Speaker 2 (02:00):
And what does Jesus do he cries, he cries.
Think about that.
That's the shortest verse inthe Bible, by the way, but
probably really one of the mostpowerful.
Jesus wept.
John 11, 35 is where you findthat.

Speaker 1 (02:10):
Isn't that nice to know that we don't have a God
that's standing way far awayjust watching us struggle.
We have a Savior who stepsright into our pain.
He feels that pain with us.

Speaker 2 (02:22):
He weeps with us, and that means even in our darkest
grief, we are never alone.
Grief will tell us the story'sover.
The joy will never come again.
Death is the final word.

Speaker 1 (02:37):
But that is exactly where Jesus speaks hope, because
in John 16, 20, he says youwill grieve, but your grief will
turn to joy.
You will grieve, but your griefwill turn to joy, not because
we forget and not because theloss doesn't matter, but because
he is a God of resurrection,because death is not the end of
the story.
Thank.

Speaker 2 (02:55):
God right For Mark.
Yeah, the grief's still there,still misses his mom every
single day.
But he told us something I'llnever forget.
He said grief taught me thatJesus really is enough.
That hope isn't just a word,it's a person.
Hope has a name and his name isJesus.
Jesus is our hope.

Speaker 1 (03:18):
Jesus is the only one that holds us together when
everything falls apart.
Jesus is the one who promisesthat one day he will wipe every
single tear from our eyes.
Jesus promises that death, thatsorrow, that pain, all of it is
not going to exist.
So if you are grieving today,don't rush it, don't feel like

(03:41):
you got to get through it right,because people say, oh, are you
still grieving?
Yes, because grief isn't linear.
It doesn't play fair.
Some days you'll be fine andsome days you'll look at a cup
on the counter and just lose it.
But throughout every singlemoment, jesus is with you.

Speaker 2 (03:57):
He is your comfort, jesus is your refuge, jesus is
our hope and we hope aboveeverything, that you know you
are loved, you're seen.
There is hope, not someday, butright now, right here, because
Jesus is with you.
Hope you've been encouragedtoday.

Speaker 1 (04:16):
Yeah, exactly.
If you've been encouraged bythis podcast in any way, share
it with a friend who might alsoneed this encouragement, whether
your grief is a year old or adecade old.
And if you've been encouraged,you can always get more
encouragement by listening toWPER, Virginia's Home for
Encouragement.
If you live outside of Virginia, you can listen to WPER on your
smart speaker or even throughthe WPER app.

(04:38):
You