Coping with Loss
—In an uncertain world
You can suffer loss in many ways in this world, because so many things are uncertain. However, you can cope with loss —not easy, but possible.
1 So Much Uncertainty!
- Life itself is uncertain (James 4:13-15).
- The elements are uncertain (Acts 27:4,14-16).
- Your health is uncertain (Acts 5:15-16).
- Money and wealth is uncertain (1Timothy 6:17-19).
- Employment is uncertain (Matthew 20:1-7).
- Relationships are uncertain (1Corinthians 7:14-16, Matthew 10:34-37).
- The entire Planet Earth is uncertain (2Peter 3:5-7,10).
- Only God is certain (James 13:5-6).
2 Losing Your Way in Life
Another kind of loss is not some traumatic sudden loss, but simply losing your way in life. You look back over the years and wonder where you took the wrong turn, where you missed a crucial opportunity. What happened to the dreams?
This kind of loss can lead to your viewing your life as a failure, and therefore you suffer the loss of your self esteem. This is a great loss, and yet you have more control over keeping your self esteem than you have over most other things.
God sees more in our lives than we do. Often our comparisons and viewpoints are false.
Regardless of mistakes we might have made, our self esteem should rely on God's word, not our own uncertainties about ourselves. God says...
Romans 8:16-18
¶“16The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit, that we are the children of God. 17Now since we are children, we are also heirs. We are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ sharing [all the riches] of his glory —of course we must also [endure as] joint sufferers with him. 18I consider our present day sufferings as not worthy of comparison with the glory that will be revealed to us” (Romans 8:16-18).
In the midst of our sufferings and loss, we know this to be certainly true and especially "the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed to us" (Romans 8:18).
3 The Wisdom of Job
The Bible brings to us from very ancient times, various principles for coping with loss. Job suffered the sudden loss of everything but his very life. He lost wealth, family, and health. He was in misery. But one thing he did not lose was his relationship with God.
Here are some of the principles that Job learned and held to...
- Don't blame God for your loss (Job 2:7-10).
- Don't smother your grief (Job 7:11, 10:1).
- Don't miss the lesson in the loss (Job 14:1-12).
- Don't be burdened with guilt (Job 27:1-6).
- Don't lean on your own understanding (Job 42:1-6).
- Wait upon God to restore you (Job 42:12-13).