God Understands…When You Feel Life Is Unfair: Chapter 2
Lament or grieving comes from within. If we are to grieve, we must dare to look and feel within. There we will discover the loss that has led us to choose to believe that life is unfair. As long as we deny our suffering, as long as we avoid the pain of our loss, we do not take the inward journey. Yet spiritual healing requires that inward journey. For as long as we deny our loss and our suffering, we are pretending to be self-sufficient; we are isolating ourselves from reaching out for help; we are perhaps even fooling ourselves into believing that we need no one else, not even God.
God Understands…When You Feel Life Is Unfair: Chapter 3
In this chapter, we will look at two more steps toward healing from the wounds of unfair blows that come our way. One step is to examine our assumptions. Another step is to accept help. We have been taught that life is supposed to be fair.
God Understands…When You Feel Life Is Unfair: Chapter 4
A nurse spoke to a chaplain quietly in the hospital hallway. “Chaplain, I want you to see Mr. O’Brien in bed 6. His mood is not consistent with what he is dealing with. I think he may be in major denial. Would you see him and give me your impression?”
God Understands…When You Feel Like Life Is Meaningless: Chapter 3
When we lose our sense of purpose and meaning, we lose our sense of connection to others and God; we lose our sense of community. Without a sense of purpose, other people mean little to us because we no longer value ourselves.
God Understands…When You Feel Overwhelmed with Guilt
Do you carry a burden for something awful that you have done? Or maybe you are troubled by something you think you should have done, but didn't do. Are your memories an ongoing source of pain and suffering for you? God has words of healing, forgiveness and hope for you. Allow yourself to begin to let go of the guilt that you carry.
God Understands…When You Feel Overwhelmed with Guilt: Chapter 1
When we reflect on our moral failures, we may wonder what God thinks of us and fear that God may not accept us. Perhaps you can relate to some of the following remorseful statements of Tommy.
God Understands…When You Feel Overwhelmed with Guilt: Chapter 2
Like Tommy, we desperately want to be freed from any guilt that imprisons us. The most important aspect of our confession is that it be genuine. When we are honest with ourselves about our wrongdoing, we will find peace in pouring out our hearts in genuine confession to God.
Dr. David Augsburger suggests that we could speak of forgiving as “for-grieving” (Augsburger, David. Helping People Forgive. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1996). For-grieving refuses the shortcut resolution of forgetting the offense, and intentionally remembers, returns to the loss, relives the event, and retells the story until peace has been made at a level that permits an opening to a future of healing.
God Understands…When You Feel Overwhelmed With Guilt: Chapter 3
As I mentioned earlier, Tommy initially believed that no one, especially God, could ever forgive him or love him. Day by day, however, in Tommy’s journey of faith, he came to trust in God’s loving forgiveness and acceptance. Three months following Tommy’s heart transplant, he returned to his home state. However, five months following his heart transplant, he returned to our VA hospital because his body was rejecting his newly-transplanted heart. It was painful to watch him struggling so deeply, and physically declining with each passing day.
God Understands…When You Feel Sadness and Grief
Do you have deep sadness over the things that you have seen - lives that have been cut short; physical wounds that will never fully heal? Do you grieve the loss of friends? Are you able to cry? God hears our cries and cares about our hurts. God can help carry your sorrow. Bring your feelings to God and find his comfort.
God Understands…When You Feel Sadness and Grief: Chapter 1
When we are hurting or grieving a significant loss, we may wonder if God is listening. We may want to pound our fists and scream, “Do you hear my cries?” Laura initially felt that no one (including God) might understand why she cried herself to sleep every night. Perhaps you can relate to the painful losses expressed by Laura in the below dialogue.
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