Last week I traveled to Georgia to attend training camp in preparation for the World Race. In many ways my experience was like any other camping adventure: I slept in a tent each night, got eaten alive by bugs, went days without showering, and ate s’mores by the campfire.
On the other hand this week was very different. I met my squad of 50+ people who I will be traveling with for the next year. My squad comes from all over the states, from California to Florida, and a couple international countries as well. As I got to know each of them, I realized how blessed I am to have such a great body of believers that all desire to grow in their faith and respond to the call God has placed on our lives for the next year.
During the week we got to listen to many speakers that gave us great insight on things we will likely experience on the race as well as things that will help prepare us before we launch. One speaker, Ron Walborn, talked to us about grief. He explained that we must grieve the painful losses of the past seasons of our life before we can effectively embrace the present and the future.
Afterwards, we gathered into small groups to discuss the grief from each of our pasts. For me it wasn’t hard to think of losses in my life and so I spoke first. I had no intentions of being emotionally broken down since I have talked about my grief many times before in other settings, but soon I found myself crying before the group as the pain behind the grief became real to me again.
Then the others in my group shared their stories of grief and before we knew it we all had tears in our eyes. My heart crumbled some more as I realized that everyone around me had their own stories of pain and suffering. Sharing our stories was hard, but I think I can say for the group that it brought us all closer in a small way and greater appreciation for one another.
Though experiencing and dealing with grief produces pain and brokenness, it is what God wants for us. God wants to heal us of our grief so that we can turn our weaknesses into strengths and our pain into joy. He wants us to share our stories of pain and suffering to give hope to the brokenhearted and joy to the suffering. It doesn’t matter how great or small our losses are, they can all be used for God’s divine purpose to bring hope to the lost and weary. After all, weakness is power in the kingdom of God.
So be vulnerable, share your grief, and see how God uses your story.
2 Corinthians 12:9-10 “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
