Mercy in the Midst of Grief
Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am in trouble…for my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing…but as for me, I trust in You, O Lord; I say, “You are my God.”… Psalm 31:9-10,14
Sometimes, grief comes in fragments, in gentle memories that lightly touch your heartstrings.
You open a cabinet door and find an old gift, you hear a song, or you run across a photo, and instantly you miss the person involved. You pick up the phone to call…only your loved one isn’t there to answer.
My mother-in-law Martha Ann passed away a few months ago, and her loss after 38 years in my life has touched me in bits and pieces. Christmas will be difficult because she was always so excited to join the celebration. I’ll make her special “candy-orange-slice” fruitcake recipe this year…but it won’t be her cake. My memories of her are sweet, and I will miss how she filled our lives with her joy and laughter.
At other times, grief can be like a heavy door slammed in your face and then tumbling off the hinges to crush you with its weight. Maybe it’s the news of a death. Maybe it’s a doctor’s report about a life-threatening disease. Maybe it’s a miscarriage. Or maybe it’s the loss of a lifelong dream.
Whatever the words and news, they pierce your heart with rusty-knife violence. The axe has fallen, granite has sealed the tomb, and all dreams are crushed. You have no strength to lift the weight of your sorrow. You stumble through the days, months, shrouded in a leaden sheet and grieving behind a stony mask.
And that’s okay. It’s okay to grieve.
Whether you grieve inwardly with a façade of cheer or weep visibly and audibly, grief is an appropriate response to loss. Grieving is not only natural, it’s an essential part of the healing process and an integral part of the Christian life.
The Bible is full of laments. Just read through the Psalms and look at the titles. Jeremiah’s “Lamentations” expressed his sorrow over his beloved Israel taken into exile. Job, afflicted by Satan, was a godly man faithful to his God and yet he still cried out in anguish.
Our greatest example, however, is Jesus Christ. We see His grief in its many facets.
Jesus grieved in the face of death. When His good friend Lazarus died, we find those two famous words uttered in John 11:35, the shortest verse in the Bible: “Jesus wept.” Death was extraordinarily painful for the Author of life.
He wept, too, over the plight of Jerusalem, saying, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.” (Luke 19:41-42) He hated sin and all its consequences.
Jesus especially shrank back at the anticipation of His own suffering, sweating drops of blood in the Garden of Gethsemane before humbly taking on the atrocity of the cross.
If you’re going through a loss and mentally processing it, Jesus knows your pain. Even now, He feels your ache as He sits on the right hand of His Father in heaven, interceding for you. Ask Him to send His Holy Spirit as His Comforter for you. Let His mercy wrap you in His blanket of peace.
Give yourself time to heal. Take a break from extra activities that might add stress. Read your Bible daily, especially in the Psalms. Let your heart cry out to the Lord even as the psalmists did. Mark the prayer psalms in your Bible, and take note of the ones that end in a peaceful trust for God’s provision and aid. Reach out to others among your family and friends. Share your sorrow with them, and let them mourn with you in your community of faith.
It’s critically important, though, not to linger longer than appropriate in the season of grief. The Preacher in Ecclesiastes 3:4 tells us that there is a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance. If you are unable to emerge from depression, seek both medical help and Christian counseling—this could be a symptom of something else going on in your life, either physical or spiritual.
Keep your focus on God. Just as He allows us to grieve, He commands us to rejoice in Him as well. The psalmist in Psalm 118:24 invites us to make God the center of our joy today—“This is the day that the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”
The good news in my grief? My mother-in-law, Martha Ann, was sold out to Jesus. I know that my mourning for her will someday be turned into dancing. I hope you, too, can grieve with hope…that one day you will be reunited in heaven with your loved ones in a joyous homecoming.
Be of comfort and courage, my friend. Our Lord is walking beside you every step on this life journey and will carry you, by His strength, through your grief to His eternal joy.
Holy and Sovereign God, I cry out to You in my grief. I need Your comforting words, Your everlasting arms beneath me, Your love enfolding me. You, O Lord, are a Shield for me, my Glory and the One who lifts up my head. Help me acknowledge my need to grieve. Remind me that Your Son, Jesus Christ, has already borne my griefs and carried my sorrows. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me and You comfort me. During this season, I will yet praise You according to Your righteousness, and I will sing to Your name, O Lord Most High. In Jesus Christ’s name, Amen.
Nancy C. Williams is a Christian wife/mom with a writing career spanning more than 40 years in business and journalism. Williams is the author of the novel To Love a Falcon and the devotional book A Crocus in the Desert: Devotions, Stories, and Prayers for Women Experiencing Infertility. Her blogs are featured on Crossmap.com and AriseDaily. To follow Nancy’s posts and news, go to her home page at NancyCWilliams.com and subscribe at the bottom.
© Copyright 2026 Nancy C. Williams (text and photography). Unless otherwise noted, Scripture verses are taken from the New King James Version®, Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved. #faithjourney #Christianliving #faithoverfear #walkwithGod #kingdomlife #encouragement #Biblestudy #dailydevotional #Godisgood #prayerwarrior #Christianity #Jesus #God #Christian #Bible #faith #trust #JesusChrist #love #church #Christ #prayer #Bibleverse #hopefromdespair #presenceofGod #grief #comfortoftheHolySpirit
