Don't waste your pain!
1. Pray candidly
2. Feel pain
3. Anchor in truth

Discussion questions available here.

Don't waste your pain!

1. Pray candidly

Put it all on the table before God.

“Lament is the honest cry of a hurting heart wrestling with the paradox of pain and the promise of God’s goodness.” –Mark Vroegop

Start with the psalms, a cry, or a groan. (Romans 8:26-27)

2. Feel pain

Don’t succumb to emotional anesthesia! (Ecclesiastes 3:4)

There are many ways we avoid pain… are any of them beneficial?

Seek escape from sin, not from suffering (1 Corinthians 10:13)

We cannot move forward emotionally without facing our feelings and bringing them to God.

3. Anchor in truth

Be unhurried but unsettled in your sorrow.

What is the goal of grieving?

Cling to hope and joy (in the journey, not the destination).

Knowing truth is how we grieve with hope. (1 Thessalonians 4:13)