EHS Practices – Week 5 – Day 3

THEME: GROWING THROUGH GRIEF

BREATH PRAYER: FATHER, HELP ME WALK WITH YOU THROUGH MY GRIEF AND LOSS

SETTLING IN:

• In a journal, note the day, time, and place you’re sitting.
• Open with a few moments of silence. Rest, and breathe deeply.
• Complete the following sentence in your journal: Today, I feel ________________.
• Read these words slowly (aloud or silently):

“The Lord has given me a strong warning not to think like everyone else does.”
(Isaiah 8:11)

Pray this week’s breath prayer and pause for a few moments of silence.

PRACTICE:
SOLIDARITY IN JESUS’ SUFFERING

Below are listed some of the difficult events of Jesus’ life on earth. Choose one that mirrors an experience of your own life (or select another that isn’t listed if it seems more appropriate).

Temptation (Matthew 4:-1-13)
Feeling rejected by friends or family (Mark 3:20-30, Mark 6:1-6, Luke 4:22-30, John 6:60-67)
Death of a loved one (John 11:11-35)
Unjust accusation (Luke 11:14-16, Matthew 26:57-68)
Humiliation (Matthew 27:27-31)
Betrayal (Luke 22:47-48, John 15:15-18, 25-27)
Feeling abandoned (Matthew 27:45-46)

When you have chosen a passage, read through it slowly several times. As you read, carefully observe Jesus’ responses and attitudes. How does He display His humanity as well as His divinity?

Jesus wants to be with us in all things, at all times. This is especially true in our moments of sorrow and suffering. As you think back on your own painful experience, imagine Jesus saying, I know how you feel. How does His presence and understanding affect your view of that painful time? Read the passage you selected another time, prayerfully standing with Jesus as two people who share similar suffering.

When you are finished, open your journal and spend a few minutes describing how Jesus’ presence and understanding affects your memories of sorrow and suffering.

Digging Deeper: In your family/background/culture, how were you taught to approach loss and grief? What were the spoken and unspoken rules? When it comes without warning, how do you respond? What are the stages of grief you generally go through? Place these lessons of your upbringing against Jesus’ responses in the passage you studied. What lesson is He encouraging you to un-learn so you can follow His model of experiencing grief and loss?

• Summary: Write in your journal a brief summary (five sentences or less) of the solidarity you experienced with Jesus in suffering.
• Closing Prayer: Thank Jesus for standing with You in your pain. Ask Him to continue to teach you how to process these experiences through His eyes. Father, help me walk with You through my grief and loss.