When Grief Meets Grace

My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me all day long, “Where is your God?” — Psalm 42:3

We live in a world that wants us to move on fast. Whether it’s a loss, a disappointment, or something we can’t even fully explain, there’s this quiet pressure to shake it off and keep moving. Put on a smile. Say, “I’m fine.” And for a lot of us, that same mindset creeps into our relationship with God.

But Scripture doesn’t play that game. Psalm 42 says it flat: “My tears have been my food day and night.” That’s not somebody holding it together. That’s somebody falling apart in front of God, and God lets it stand. It’s right there in His Word, reminding us that grief isn’t a spiritual failure. It’s a human reality.

Jesus didn’t avoid grief either. He wept for His friend Lazarus. He sweated blood in Gethsemane. On the cross, He cried out in raw anguish. That’s not weakness. That’s a Savior who knows exactly what it feels like to carry heavy things.

So if you’ve been holding back your tears, feeling like maybe God doesn’t want to deal with your sadness, hear me on this: God is not offended by your grief. He’s not looking for a version of you that never hurts. He meets you in the middle of it.

Today, let yourself slow down. Don’t rush past the things that deserve your grief. Sit with God in it. Cry if you need to. Pray honestly. And trust that the same God who collects your tears in His bottle is still holding onto you while you walk through it.

Reflection Question
Where in your life have you been holding back grief, feeling like you need to appear strong in front of others or God? What would it look like to trust Him with that grief today?

God is not offended by your grief. He sees every tear, not as a sign of weakness, but as an invitation to draw near.

Prayer
Father, I don’t always know how to sit still with my grief. I try to move on too fast, or I try to hide it from You. But You see it all. Thank You for meeting me right in the middle of it. Teach me how to trust You with my sadness, to cry when I need to, and to believe that You are present with me even in the tears. Amen.