Grief touches every life at some point, but we can feel peace and comfort from God.   #theloriclineshow   Interested in learning more about becoming a devoted follower of Christ? Go to follow.lifeword.org!   ~~~   If I say the phrase ‘good grief’, what’s the first thing you think of?  For many, it’s the beloved cartoon character Charlie Brown, who made the saying popular in the 1950’s. Poor Charlie Brown was always bummed out and frustrated and so often nothing ever seemed to go right. He could never kick that football! GOOD GRIEF just seemed to be the right thing to say. If you think about it though, can grief be good? It’s really an oxymoron. These two words, GOOD and GRIEF placed side by side and used together, which totally contradict each other. When you think of grief you don’t naturally think of it as something good. But should we?  Can grief be a good thing? Grief is deep sorrow as a result of losing someone we love. Looking back at the past year, our world has been stricken with grief as a result of loss due to Covid-19. Over two and a half million people worldwide have died from that alone. That’s in addition to all the other ways people die everyday.  Did you know there is a world death clock? It calculates the number of people who are dying in the world every second. On an average there are 56 million deaths that take place in a year. This is then broken down by month, day, hour and minute. By the time this video finishes, over 400 people will have died.  The gravity of loss our world has faced, and continues to face, leaves an ongoing shadow of grief that covers the hearts of the world. The rain falls on us all and no one is immune to death. There is a time for everything, a time to be born and a time to die.  In my deepest moments of grief recently, God’s promise in Psalm 34:18 to be ‘near the brokenhearted’ has been proven true for me. I’ve felt His peace, His comfort and my hope of heaven has grown stronger than ever. My eyes see this life from a much more eternal perspective. This brings me peace and even joy in the midst of grief. Good grief, you might even say, because my eyes are not consumed with the things of this world. Knowing this life is not the end, my eyes stay even more fixed on Jesus and set on things above. That is where my hope comes from in the midst of grief.  King Solomon understood the good that comes from grief. Ecclesiastes 7:1-4 A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth. It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart. Frustration is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.   Solomon is known for his wisdom. It’s what he asked God for out of anything he could have had. Here he gives us a bit of an oxymoron, like good grief. It is good to go to the house of mourning. But what do we find there? Tears, heartache, loss and grief, yet in the midst of that there are hearts considering what matters most. It’s not the prosperity of life but the grit, strength and perseverance that is forged in the fires of mourning, loss, struggle, not our desired outcome and frustration.  James even tells us to count it all joy. Sounds a bit upside down, but when you consider  the wisdom, grace and comfort that covers your soul in those seasons and the eternal perspective gained… I believe it’s easier to see grief as something God uses for our good.  That’s the truth.  Friends - there will be a time for us all to die. Be wise. Consider your eternity. This world is not the end. Jesus made a way of salvation and for those found IN HIM, the house of mourning becomes a house of celebration and only because of the HOPE we have of heaven, can we truly know GOOD GRIEF.   I’m Lori Cline.