The Way God Handled GriefSample

IT’S TIME TO GET UP AND MOVE

Yesterday, we read in Deuteronomy 34:8 that the Israelites had 30 days to mourn.

After the mourning time, God spoke to Joshua. God knew they couldn’t sit in their grief. It was time to get up and move. In Joshua 1:1-2, God told him to ‘lead the people and go.’

However, before Moses died, we had the death of his brother Aaron. What a sad time for the two brothers. They were leaders appointed by God, but God had to alter the plan because of their disobedience. God warned Aaron of his impending death and instructed him and Moses to go up to Mount Hor, where Moses was told to remove his brother’s priestly garments and put them on Eleazar. I can only imagine the grieving process began at that moment.

“So Moses did as the Lord commanded. The three of them went up Mount Hor together as the whole community watched. At the summit, Moses removed the priestly garments from Aaron and put them on Eleazar, Aaron’s son. Then Aaron died atop the mountain, and Moses and Eleazar went back down. When the people realized Aaron had died, Israel mourned for him thirty days.” Numbers 20:22-19

Notice Moses and Eleazar didn’t stay on the mountain where Aaron died. They went back to the people and mourned for thirty days. After the mourning, Chapter 21: 4-5 tells us the people moved on by way of the Red Sea, but in the first three verses, we learn that there was a skirmish between the Canaanites and the Israelites.

I don’t know about you, but when a person is fighting to live, there is little time for mourning and grief.

We often face unwanted events in life by dwelling on the issue. This is very normal and is part of the process, yet we must be careful not to dwell too long. These events are seasons in life that we walk through. Notice we don’t sit and dwell; we get up and walk through them. Sometimes, we have to force ourselves to stand up and put one foot in front of the other.

Takeaway: Life is full of seasons, full of good times and bad. When the bad happens, take time to face the issue, but there soon comes that day when we must stop dwelling, get up, and move forward.