Stand On It 4: Happy Feet in Tough Times

The determination to win the race and overcome the problems in the journey all of us are on is constantly on the hearts of victorious and spirit-filled believers. 

Our determination to handle our hearts, minds and actions as we transverse very difficult situations is everything to the Kingdom.  Over the past 2 weeks, Leanna and I and our teams have been very upset over the loss of our little rescued girl in the Amazon. We have been dealing with the grief that goes with it and it’s been tough.  

Grief is what we think and feel on the inside when someone we love dies. Examples include fear, loneliness, panic, pain, yearning, anxiety, emptiness etc. It is the internal meaning given to the experience of loss. 

Mourning is the outward expression of our grief; it is the expression of one’s grief.

IT IS ONE THING TO ACT LIKE A CHRISTIAN. IT’S ANOTHER THING TO REACT LIKE A CHRISTIAN. 

REACTION IS SPONTANEOUS AND RESPONDING IS INTENTIONAL. 

WHEN WE REPOND IN GODLY MOURNING, GOD RESPONDS WITH SUPERNATURAL HELP AND HEALING. THIS IS CALLED COMFORT, AND IT’S WHAT THE HOLY SPIRIT DOES IN THOSE WHO BELIEVE. 

FOR THOSE WHO MOURN IN JESUS THERE IS A BLESSING IN MOURNING. 

Matthew 5:4 – Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted.

Grief is a natural response to loss. It’s the emotional suffering you feel when something or someone you love is taken away. Often, the pain of loss can feel overwhelming. But COMFORT is the supernatural response from heaven when we mourn inside the Kingdom and stay loyal to the Lord. 

Psalm 147:3 – He heals the brokenhearted And binds up their wounds.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-17 – A time to weep, And a time to laugh; A time to mourn, And a time to dance…

There’s a time for weeping but we need to learn how to be victorious and glorify God in our weeping because soon that time will be over.

Revelation 21:4  – And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.

Romans 8:18 – For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

3 Keys to Overcoming Grief with Victorious Mourning 

1. Stay loyal to King Jesus in the midst of your grief, even when you don’t understand.

Learn to bless God and express your love to God when you are otherwise devastated. 

When your world is slipping out from under you, you have to let the unseen world know that you never stood on the world anyway. Jesus Christ is the solid rock you stand on. 

Job 1:20-21 – Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped. 21 And he said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Job 2:9-10 – Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!” 10 But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

2. Trust God in the midst of your grief and maintain your integrity.

Job 13:15 – Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him (a declaration of loyalty) but I will maintain mine own ways before him.

Your pain doesn’t give you the right to act like a fool or an unbeliever. If you want to respond, if you want hell to run off, if you want the goodness of God in the land of the living–when you want to lose your mind–that is when you clean up your act. 

Guard and protect the Word of God in your heart in the midst of your grief.

Acts 20:22-24 – And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there: 23 Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. 24 But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.

Rizpah: 2 Samuel 21:1-14 – And word reached the king…

Have defiant hope and defiant joy in the midst of suffering and pain. Grief does not define you. Jesus does! Dance as you mourn until you’re just dancing!