Crippled with Grief? You Can Go on Living.

Crippled with grief? You can go on living.

Have you ever felt as though someone punched you in the stomach? Have you felt so overcome with grief that you can’t stop crying or eat?

I once felt that way. Seven years ago, within seven months, two aunts, my mother and my only child died.

Mama died before Mother’s Day, and three days afterward, my only child died. I was crippled with grief. I didn’t think I could go on living. I wanted to die too and join my family in heaven. I prayed, “God, please take me too.”

Have you ever prayed that way?

God didn’t answer my prayer. Instead he showed me that my mother and my only child would want me to go on living and to fulfill my purpose in life.

So, I asked God, “Will you give me the desire and strength to go on living without them? Will you please help me fulfill my purpose in life in memory of my late loved ones?

Three books and dozens of speaking engagements later, it’s obvious God answered my second prayer. I’m no longer crippled with grief. I have gone on living, and I am fulfilling my purpose in life in memory of my mother and my son.

When you feel crippled with grief and wonder how you can go on living, will you ask God to take you home too, or will you pray for God’s grace and power to go on living without your loved one?

As long as you’re still here, God isn’t done with you yet. He has a purpose for you. Will you fulfill that purpose in memory of your loved one?

Romans 11:29: “For God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.”

Prayer: Dear God, without __________, I admit I am crippled with grief and don’t want to go on living. I would rather die and join them. Help me use the gifts you’ve given me to fulfill your purpose in my life. Amen.

Copyright © by Yvonne Ortega VI.XXVII.MMXVI under the title, “When Grief Almost Cripples You Updated I.VI.XXVIII