From Grief to Joy
You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing
Psalm 30:11
by Maria Kear
We have all walked through long seasons wondering when we would see the “light at the end of the tunnel.” However, when our vision is clouded, we miss the fact that the light has been there all along.
A 7-year season has ended for me, and I am entering into a new light of Father’s love. The cloud that obscured my vision was grief. How did I get to the place where grief clouded my vision?
From Oct 2016 to April 2023 my family lost my daddy, my brother-in-law, our church family of 25 years, and my momma. It was a hard seven-year period filled with grief and loss. The grief threatened to destroy me. But God…
Over the seven years, I engaged in inner healing and deliverance, forgiving everyone that came to mind. I also sat alone with Father, allowing Him to speak love over me. But I wondered if I would ever feel like “me” again.
Until now.
If you’re in a season of clouded vision, please keep reading. The light of His face, along with His breath-giving freedom is just ahead!
Recently, I heard Holy Spirit tell me He wanted to remove the final bits of grief from my physical body. The soul work is done, now my physical body needs to know I’m healed. He asked me to sit with Him for 21 days and allow Him to speak to me, love me, and heal me. So, I am allowing Him to heal me because I don’t want to miss this sweet time of restoration.
Soon after, He said these sweet words, “The joy of the Lord is your strength!” Nehemiah 8:10 NLT says, “Go and celebrate with a rich feast of foods and sweet drinks and share gifts of food with people who have nothing prepared. This is a sacred day before our Lord. Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the LORD is your strength!”
Y’all! A rich feast of food and sweet drinks to share with my friends sounds like a massive party and celebration! He is calling us away from grief and into a celebration with Him and with each other. The words “Don’t be … sad” in the original text mean, “Do not grieve.” Wow! What a beautiful command and confirmation! “Joy” means “gladness and rejoicing”. “Strength” means, “of God, a refuge.”
When the 21 days end, the Lord is inviting me to celebrate the healing and freedom. And He is confirming that in Nehemiah 8:10. He is saying that rejoicing is coming, grief will be gone from my body, and I will experience His refuge.
What about you? What has clouded your vision from seeing the light of His face? Ask Him to show you and to give you a plan for walking out of that place of clouded vision and into your season of glad celebration with good food, good drinks, sweet friends, and all within this amazing space of refuge in Him!