People experience grief for a lot of reasons. The physical death of a loved one, the loss of a marriage or romantic relationship, and the loss of a child are common reasons for grief. As empathetic and compassionate people, we want to say the right thing to someone who’s grieving. We want to find encouraging words to help lift their spirits and fill them with the strength to carry on. These are some encouraging Bible verses that can help you to help a person who is grieving any of the above-mentioned situations. You can try to use them the next time you come across someone who needs your help.
It’s Normal to Want to Help
John 11:35 – Jesus Wept.
This Bible verse is the shortest one in the book, yet it says the most about our Savior’s nature and our nature, as well. Jesus cried when his friend Lazarus died. He did not cry because Lazarus died, however. He knew that he would be doing something for his Father’s glory in a little while. He knew he’d be raising Lazarus back up. However, he cried because he saw the grief on Lazarus’s sister’s face. It was natural for him to feel compassion and empathy for her, and he expressed it by allowing his tears to flow. As children of our Heavenly Father, we have the same compassionate and empathetic nature that Jesus had. We feel a strong need to try to help another person through his or her grief, even if we know that something amazing will happen down the line. It’s acceptable for you to cry, and it’s noble for you to try to find the right words for someone who doesn’t understand the purpose of a loved one’s death.
The Savior Will Heal You
Psalms 147:3
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
No matter what reason a person has for his or her grief, healing is in the future for the person. Our Father loves us and wants to heal us. He uses times of grief to draw his children closer to him so that he may share his healing power. You can remind a grieving person of this passage the next time you witness that person grieving the loss of a loved one from his or her life. It’s quite fitting for someone who has recently had a romantic relationship end against his or her will. The pain might feel like it will never end, but it will once the Lord touches that person’s soul with his healing hands.
You Won’t Be Alone Through Your Grief
Matthew 5:4
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
The Bible promises comfort to those who mourn. Mourning doesn’t just happen when someone dies. Mourning occurs when long-term jobs end. It happens when marriages deteriorate. It occurs when people’s children go astray, as well. Mourning will be a part of everyone’s life at some point in time for some reason. The thing to remember is that those who love the Lord will be comforted through it. His spirit dwells within us, and we can feel it when we sit down in the quiet and close our eyes in the midst of grief. We can feel it soothe and comfort us and reassure us that everything will be fine in time.
The Heavenly Father Is Always With You
Deuteronomy 31:6
Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.
Those who are abandoned need not be afraid, distraught or hopeless. People in this life might leave. Loved ones might walk away. However, the Heavenly Father will never leave or forsake his beloved. We can’t count on other human beings the way we can count on our Creator. Every promise he makes in his word is true, and this is just another one of those promises. None of his children are ever alone at any time in their lives. He is there even when it seems like he isn’t.
God Is Closest When You’re Hurting
Psalms 34:18
The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.
Our Father makes it a mission to stay close to the people who have broken hearts and crushed spirits. The best time to reach out to him is when we’ve just been abandoned, cheated on or abused by someone we loved and trusted. Remind the person who’s grieving a lost relationship to take the time to reach out to the Savior and lay his or her worries and pains on him. He will wipe that person’s tears away in a heartbeat and provide the reassurance that the individual needs.
Their Loved One Is Closer to the Lord
2 Corinthians 5:6-8
So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body, we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
When people die, they eventually pass over and end up with the Heavenly Father. Isn’t that a glorious place to be? Instead of grieving our loss of the individual from our life here, perhaps we should consider celebrating that their journey will take them closer to the master.
God Works All Things for Good
Romans 8:28
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
The Lord’s ways are not like ours. His thoughts are higher and much different than our thoughts. Therefore, he may allow a seemingly untimely death to occur for a reason that doesn’t seem to be fair. That death may have, in fact, saved hundreds of other people. It may have caused a new vaccine to be created, or maybe it ended the person’s pain. The same rings true for lost relationships. Sometimes, the Father removes people from our lives because they’re hindering our spiritual growth or blocking our relationship with him. Sometimes, other people aren’t on the same path that we’re on, or they don’t have a positive intention for their involvement with us. He may allow those people to abandon us or to be “repulsed” by us so that we can get back on the path of righteousness.
One Day There Will Be No More Pain
Revelation 21:4
He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.
This passage can give another person the hope of a better day. Remind the grieving person that one day, there will be no more pain, death or tears. There will only be goodness and happiness in the presence of our Heavenly Father.
Sometimes People Die for Rest
Isaiah 57:1-2
The righteous man perishes, and no one lays it to heart; devout men are taken away, while no one understands. For the righteous man is taken away from calamity. He enters into peace; they rest in their beds who walk in their uprightness.
As mentioned before, sometimes people die for reasons that are beneficial to those individuals. They are entering the realm of peace instead of being in the middle of calamity, disaster or extreme pain. People grieve death sometimes more for themselves than the people who die. This passage can remind someone that righteous people meet misfortune in this life, too, but that the Father always has a better plan for those people.
Comfort Someone Who Needs It Today
Now you know where to start looking for encouraging verses and words for someone who is grieving a loved one’s loss. It was never promised that we would go through life without losing people we loved. On the contrary, it was promised that we would. Life is full of seasons, and not everyone stays for more than one season. God’s love is one thing that remains constant in life, no matter how many other things change or how many people come and go. You and anyone you speak to can have 100 percent confidence in his love, loyalty, grace, mercy and goodness.