CCC 27-1_LR

PASTORAL CARE

of a woman in the throes of grief, having been ravaged by her enemies. “… Look, Lord, on my affliction…,” she cries (Lamentations 1:9). In her request, there isn’t a call for healing or restoration. All of that will come later. Right now, she only needs God to see her sorrow and know that the Lord has truly perceived her grief. When Mary invites Jesus to come and see, the longing lament from her ancestors is answered and fulfilled: Jesus sees her sorrow. Moreover, He responds to her invitation to move into the center of her sorrow and weeps with her. It may be the shortest verse in the Bible, but it is loaded with significance for how God responds to our grief: “Jesus wept” (John 11:35). What kind of God weeps with us when invited into the heart of our sorrow? What kind of God is this who moves toward our grief, even responding to our invitation to step ever closer to ground zero of our sorrow? I fear we may get God wrong if we are unwilling to sit with those questions. Counseling with Bethany in View Though I am not ready to say that God inflicts sorrow to teach us a lesson, I am prepared to say that inviting Jesus into our grief may open up perspectives on God we may not have been able to see before. Mary, I think, was on

to something in her invitation to Jesus. She invited Him to join her in her sorrow and then waited to see what He would do next. Following her lead, I am walking through grief a bit differently now, gently asking those who are seeking partnership through grief, “Have you considered inviting Jesus to come and see your grief? Would you be willing to invite Him directly into the place that pains you the most? Maybe we will be surprised by what He does next and learn something amazing along the way.” ;

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Timothy R. Gaines, Ph.D., is a theol ogy and ethics professor at Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville, Tennessee, where he also serves as a pastoral team member at Trevecca Community Church. His latest book is Walking the Theological Life: Discovering Method for Theology in the Lives of Biblical Characters (IVP Academic, 2024). You can find more of his writing and resources at timothyr gaines.com.

32 Christian Counseling Connection