Today's Walking in Grace Devotion 08/19/24

Daily devotions to draw you closer to God Monday, August 19, 2024 And He said to them, "My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of  death. . . ." —Mark 14:34 (NASB)    Sitting shiva is a Jewish tradition following the funeral of a loved one. Shiva means seven. For seven days, friends come to share the sorrow of the bereaved family. In the Bible's book of Job, his three friends sat with him "seven days and seven nights, with no one speaking a word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great" (2:13, NASB).    Job has lost nearly everything. In his suffering, he wishes he'd never been born. As he expresses his deep pain following shiva, his friends have had enough and they jump in with advice and rebuke. They say he must have done something wrong to have all this trouble, that he needs to seek God more, that he's impatient in his distress, and that they would be handling grief differently. Job ends up telling them, "Miserable comforters are you all!" (16:2, NASB).    My recently widowed sister-in-law and I have been having grief talks. She's read a book about how uncomfortable people can be with pain and suffering—wanting to hurry the grieving person through it. They give unsolicited advice and recite from their own experiences.    I'm embarrassed to find myself among Job's shiva friends—saying the wrong things in an attempt to comfort or cheer, giving ignorant input in the face of profound loss, making judgments. Job's friends were right to sit silently with him in the beginning. But they couldn't handle it once he got honest about his searing pain.    Jesus faced people's pain with them. He didn't minimize His own suffering. He is the One who can guide me in "sitting shiva" with those who grieve. Lord, in the presence of others' sorrow, let me cry Your tears. —Carol Knapp Digging Deeper: Psalm 77:1–15; John 11:35; Romans 8:31–39 DEVOTIONALS   |   MAGAZINES   |   BIBLES   |   FICTION To ensure you receive our emails, please add email@email.guideposts.org to your address book. DID YOU KNOW? Reading daily Scripture and reflecting on the word of God is life changing. Every Guideposts purchase or donation you make ensures millions of people in need of hope receive free daily devotionals, inspirational pamphlets and magazines, access to a calming meditation and prayer app, as well as personal stories that inspire and restore faith.  Click here to donate. © 2024  Guideposts | 100 Reserve Road Danbury, CT 06810-5269

 August 15 to 31 2024 Semi Monthly blog post template