The Apostle Paul calls God “the God of all comfort” (2 Cor. 1:3).
One way that we see God as the God of all comfort is the fact that His Word, the Bible, has so many descriptions of grieving people and funerals.
This shows us that God comes alongside us at these times and is with us.
Ultimately, it points us to Jesus who is “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Is. 53:1). He knows what it is to grieve. We see Him standing at the tomb of Lazarus: “Jesus wept” (John 11:35).
In the many funerals of the Bible, God teaches us what it means to grieve. He teaches us about the grieving process. This is a process that He has created in order for human beings to recover from loss.
A funeral for a loved one isn’t the only time we enter into the grieving process. We may need the grieving process for all sorts of losses: when loved ones move away, when we lose a job or a dream is shattered, when opportunities are lost, or when we experience trauma. However, funerals represent one of the strongest forms of grief, so they are particularly helpful in teaching us about grieving in all types of loss. Continue reading “Understanding the Grieving Process”