Grief

I had a question and I wanted to express a comment as well. Has anyone been involved in a grief support group? Was it helpful to you?
Next. Someone posted that we are not supposed to mourn as Christians when someone dies. I'm afraid I would have to disagree. The Bible says in Thessalonians that we don't sorrow as those who have no hope. Notice it doesn't say we don't sorrow but it's stressing that it isn't without hope.
This is the most horrendous time I have ever faced. I feel as if someone has yanked my heart out and stomped on it and crushed it. My hope lies in that my Mom is in hwa en a d I will see her again but this is by no means easy! I'm so incredibly lonely!!!

I've never been part of a group, so I can't comment on their usefulness.
My mom died nearly 30 years ago. And I'll be surprised if my dad lasts till the end of the year. It's tough to say the least.
I had a friend who lost their mom in recent years, but she got through it. It can still affect her from time to time.
So you're not alone, for sure.
Allow yourself to grieve, but try not to dwell. Grieving in short spells will make it easier to avoid dwelling on things.
Try not to isolate, it's good to be around people in moments like these. And find at least one person willing to let you vent, so you can get things out of you, rather than holding it all in.
That's all I can think of for now. Hopefully you find the right people and comfort you need.

Philippians 4:6-7

This is the antidote to grief:
2 Corinthians 1:3 & 4

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.…

About 2-1/2 years ago, I married the widow of someone I had known for 30 years. He was my mentor. She was married for 20 years before he passed away. She called me at work to say that her husband was a sleep and she could not wake him up. As a nurse, she knew the truth. When I arrived about 40 minutes later, the police and ambulance people were there. She was calm, peaceful and offering hospitality to the people who came to help. I've never seen anything like it.

We talked about this at length. Basically, the Lord Jesus carried her through this time. She spent a little time grieving and had a few tears. She really helped me because I'd known her husband for so long. She can talk about him fondly. She came under Satan's condemnation for a brief time, but that was dealt with quickly.

If grieving for years achieved anything, then that would be well and good. It does not. If anything, it can be destructive. We are helping a woman who lost her husband about 3 months ago. She has been greatly troubled and has not coped with her loss. Her health has suffered, both mental and physical. Lord Jesus can heal her and that has started. But how much better not to go through such an ordeal in the first place.

'I hope you find in quiet times alone with God, that your heart finds peace, and comfort
in knowing the loss of loved ones is always hard to accept. Be thankful for the memories and
be glad for them. I pray you come close to God's love for strength and be encouraged knowing
you have a deep love and remembrance of those who have been delivered to a place of eternal rest and peace.
'Amen'

Ecc 7:2
It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart.
Ecc 7:3
Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better.
Ecc 7:4
The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.

Solomon said that it is better to go to the house of mourning, or to a wake or a funeral, than to go to the house of feasting because that is the end of all men. In other words, we (except for those who are yet alive and are "caught up" when Christ returns) will all die one day, and as we see the dead body lying in a casket, we should lay it to heart, or we should realize that our numbers will be called one day as well. Solomon linked this mourning with sorrow, but he said that it is better than laughter because by the sadness of our countenances our hearts are made better. How so? Because when somebody else dies, it makes us think about our own mortality, and it tends to shift our focuses away from that which is temporary to that which is eternal.

Phl 2:25
Yet I supposed it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, and companion in labour, and fellowsoldier, but your messenger, and he that ministered to my wants.
Phl 2:26
For he longed after you all, and was full of heaviness, because that ye had heard that he had been sick.
Phl 2:27
For indeed he was sick nigh unto death: but God had mercy on him; and not on him only, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.
Phl 2:28
I sent him therefore the more carefully, that, when ye see him again, ye may rejoice, and that I may be the less sorrowful.
Phl 2:29
Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness; and hold such in reputation:
Phl 2:30
Because for the work of Christ he was nigh unto death, not regarding his life, to supply your lack of service toward me.

When Epaphroditus was nigh unto death, God not only had mercy on him by sparing his life, but on Paul also lest he should have sorrow upon sorrow. In other words, Paul would have sorrowed had Epaphroditus died. Of course, as you said in your OP, Paul would have sorrowed with hope that he would see his brother in the Lord again at the resurrection of the just.

Rev 21:3
And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
Rev 21:4
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

When the tabernacle of God comes to dwell with men in the new heaven, new earth, and new Jerusalem, God will wipe away all tears, and there shall be no more sorrow, nor crying, nor pain, and all of these things will disappear when there shall be no more death, so they all seemed to be linked to death.

Anyhow, sorrowing, crying, weeping, and mourning are normal when a loved one dies. Thankfully, your mother was a Christian, so you do have a hope of seeing her again one day. I just lost a niece about two weeks ago, and it is unlikely that she was saved, so I cannot honestly say that I have such a hope where she is concerned. I had not spoken to her for a while before her death, so, hopefully, she got right with the Lord before she passed away. Just try to focus a lot on your eternal hope, and not too much on your temporary loss. I know, from what you have described elsewhere, that it has caused you a lot of natural problems too. I will pray that God supplies all of your natural needs and that he also strengthens you by his Spirit according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

Phl 4:19
But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

Eph 3:16
That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;

Post #2 is good advice.
I would also like to give you a quick response on the stuff in bold.

Support groups sometimes don't help because it's people venting. So your role in a grief group is to be strong enough to listen to venting, or if you want to be listened to and do some venting on your own.
Also, when higher questions of existence are not involved in such group such as God, then the group is not very helpful.
Personal opinion.

As far as the second question, those Christians who show no emotion are sometimes worse than those atheist support groups.
Even Jesus cried which He was here in human form !
This is why we have emotions !

I have complete peace in God and nothing shakes me, yet i still cry when children suffer.

When people post in the prayer forums, they are requesting you actually pray for them, so I pray that people are sincerely actually doing the prayers versus typing or clicking up thumbs up on the forum, but actually spending the two minutes or so, and vocalizing the thoughts and request and supplications to the Lord.


Soshie dear brother, I lift up your request to the Lord for healing of your broken heart that you may have peace.

Hebrew chapter 12:1 to 12:3.
Psalms 34:18
Lamentations 3:31. 3:32.3:33.