Finding Answers While Grieving

For weeks I’ve been searching for an answer to a problem. I’ve asked people I respect, I’ve re-read books that have helped before, I’ve tried to keep an open mind as I go through my day to any new thoughts or inspiration that might come my way – but nothing came.

Especially since I lived through and now help others through bereavement and grief, I work hard at keeping my thoughts and emotions positive. I have many very effective tools to use to keep negativity at bay, and they work, but as time has gone on with this particular challenge, it was getting difficult.  

Last night before I went to bed, I pled, once again, for some guidance, for an answer that might give me direction, peace, and hope. I remembered the counsel I had given numerous times to others, to submit a question to God at night; to put the thought ‘on a shelf’ for the night, refusing to worry about it, and then to fall asleep in peace, knowing it is in the hands of One who has offered to carry all of our burdens for us.

I followed my own counsel, picturing myself virtually placing that concern up above me onto a shelf, and then went to bed, trusting that God would, in His own time, send the help I needed.

I awoke this morning before the sun came up, with the thought that I already KNOW the answer. As soon as that thought came, another one followed, and another, and I realized, it’s true! I HAVE heard this answer before, and I’d overlooked it because it seemed too simple. I hurried into my office to begin following the direction I’d been given, and my heart felt like it was bursting with gratitude.

I always encourage people to reject worry, because it closes our minds to inspiration. Yet, here I had, without recognizing it, allowed worry to close off the very answers I was seeking.

If you are looking for answers, remember the lesson the Israelites taught us as they traveled in the wilderness. When the fiery serpents came among the people, and the people cried for help, they were told that all they had to do was to look at the brass serpent, and they would be saved. Unbelievably, some refused that simple instruction, and because of that, they died.

Don’t miss the answers being sent to you! Ask, be trusting, and know that, especially during bereavement and grief, God is sending you the help you need. Remember His promise, “Ask, and ye shall receive!”