We know our loved ones and family are saved in Christ, and our grieving during bereavement is not about utter lost, but joy in that they are now in the presence of God and away from the bondage of the world and physical body. Yet the struggle about the lost is immense. We are now in the period of waiting for our turn to go to God, during this time, our communication with our loved ones is different from when we are together. How do we cope? How can we cope?

There is no magic formula or shortcut psychological change-over to heal the pain. What is remarkable is that God shares the pain that we experience. Jesus himself clearly showed this in his lost of his friends, and his reaction to others feeling such lost was evident that he truly understands the helplessness we are in, in such a situation.

What is also remarkable during time of bereavement is God enables us to “bounce back”. This does not mean we become happy jolly again. But it means he gives us the capacity to renew, recharge, refresh – that we could resume some normality of life. It might begin with our psychological self, or our mental thinking. For others, the healing is in the spiritual self. Yet for others, getting up to do things can help to resume some normality in life.

It is easy to say the important thing is we have hope in the future in God. Death is not the end. Bereavement is not the deepest depth. While that is in fact easy to say, what I have seen, heard, and experienced myself attest to that hope in God. That hope helps us to restore ourselves, and then God refreshes us. It’s not that we will change given our loved ones are not physically here with us. That is not the full meaning of “refresh”. Refresh is like having a cup of cool water following an intensive exercise. It helps us to restore ourselves, and refreshes us to be at our best capacity in life.

God will refresh us.