By Pastor Mark Moreno

The Lord Is With Us

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

One of the most beloved cartoons is undoubtedly Charles Schulze’s “Peanuts”.  It is hard to believe it turned 75 this year on October 2^nd! There are familiar characters such as Charlie Brown. Lucy, Linus, Sally, Snoopy, Woodstock and many more.

One of the famous lines that Charlie Brown utters is, “Good grief!”. He often says this when something unexpected, especially negative, happens. I believe one of the reasons this cartoon strip is still so popular today is because there was a way the author was able to tap into the human experience.

In Psalm 34:15-18 we read,

“The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry. The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”
English Standard Version

I want to take a different look at “good grief.” While life may be hard and painful, when we express grief, that is actually GOOD. It is good because if we cry out to God, even on our worst day, we are demonstrating that He is there! When you and I express hurt and disappointment, I am thankful that we invite God to be part of that.

God is good, even though grief often is not. So many bible passages attest to the fact that He hears the cries of His children and He knows we need His presence, His love, His forgiveness.

Have you had a time of grief recently? Have you lost a loved one to death or gone through something hard like a break up or losing a job? There are many sources for grief, but there is only one true source for comfort: Knowing that our Lord is with us in the midst of grief and that He will deliver us from that someday!

If you are walking through a season filled with grief, I encourage you to reach out and let others help you on that journey. It may be a friend or family member, it may be a pastor or a counselor. But one thing I do know from the Peanuts comic strip is that Charlie Brown does not isolate himself, he seeks the companionship of a host of colorful characters.

I pray that you would place your burden down and hold tightly to the promises that God makes in Psalm 34,

“The Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”
ESV

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