A few weeks ago, several of our church members and family experienced the heartache and grief of losing a loved one. In those times, we want to be a help and comfort but often feel inadequate to the task.
What we may not realize is that the time and moment of the loss is not necessarily when the weight of the grief hits. Days, weeks, even months later when everyone else has gotten back to “normal,” those who were closest to the deceased are left feeling empty, alone, and wondering why they can’t get back to normal, even if it’s a new normal.
Do you remember how people suffered from “COVID fog?” There is something we could call a “grief fog” that seems to linger for a long time. What is the way through and out of that fog?
Dr. Paul Chappell of West Coast Baptist College and pastor of Lancaster Baptist Church wrote a great article from 2025 titled Led by the Spirit through the Valley of Grief. Take the next couple of days and read his wise observations and instructions. May the Lord use his words to be a help to those travelling through the Valley of Grief.
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It would be hard to find a more tender picture of what it means to be led by God than Psalm 23. This chapter may be the most recognized passage in the Bible. It is certainly the most known and loved of the psalms. It is familiar to both believers and unbelievers. It’s recognized by literary experts. It’s posted on the walls of businesses, hospitals, churches, and homes. But Psalm 23 is especially loved by those who grieve. Perhaps there is no time when we more greatly crave the presence and leading of the Good Shepherd than when we walk through the valley of grief.
Every person’s journey through grief is unique, because every grief is unique. Grief comes in all shapes and sizes, and it comes as a result of any type of loss.
Yet, what matters more than the individual specifics of our journey through grief is with whom we take the journey. When we are led on that journey by the Good Shepherd, we will experience the comfort of God in three powerful ways.
- The Provision of the Shepherd
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake” (Psalm 23:1–3).
David began Psalm 23 with five simple words: “The Lord is my shepherd.” Nearly a thousand years after David made this declaration, Jesus acknowledged Himself as our “good shepherd” (John 10:11, 14–15). With Christ as our Shepherd, we “shall not want,” for He has provided every need through His work on the cross. Especially in our grief, we find that He supplies everything essential for our souls.
Well-cared-for sheep are peaceful sheep; it’s what makes scenes of sheep so idyllic—they rest under their shepherd’s provision. The ultimate rest for our souls is in Jesus. In times of grief, physical rest may or may not come easily. But we can always turn our heavy, tired souls to the Lord and find rest in Him.
Jesus is the restorer of our souls. Sometimes, we assume that Christians who walk closely with the Lord shouldn’t experience times when they need restoration of the soul. But this is a mistaken assumption. David himself knew what it was to need his Shepherd’s restoration. There were times he was afraid, overwhelmed, and “cast down.” Yet, in those moments, he prayed, “From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I” (Psalm 61:2). (to be continued tomorrow)
https://ministry127.com/led-by-the-spirit-through-the-valley-of-grief
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