In 2 Samuel 12:20 it says, “Then David got up from the ground, washed himself, put on lotions, and changed his clothes. He went to the Tabernacle and worshiped the Lord. After that, he returned to the palace and was served food and ate.” (NLT)
Imagine you went into work one day at a job where you’ve dedicated 10 years of your life, and suddenly they tell you, “You’re fired. Sorry!”
You would be in shock! You would be paralyzed and wouldn’t be able to think what to do. This is how most of us would react to an unexpected loss.
But even in the grief, shock, sorrow, sadness, and struggle of a loss, God wants to start us on a path of peace so that we can heal. The first step is surrender, and part of surrender is to do something productive.
Maybe it’s just a little step. And we only have to take one small step at a time!
The Bible describes King David’s step forward after his infant son had died: “Then David got up from the ground, washed himself, put on lotions, and changed his clothes. He went to the Tabernacle and worshiped the Lord. After that, he returned to the palace and was served food and ate” (2 Samuel 12:20 NLT).
Why did David go to the palace? He’s the king, and the palace is his place of productivity. The palace is where he works. He’s basically signaling that he’s going back to work.
Do you think that, one day after his baby died, David is over his grief? Of course not. We don’t ever get over grief; we get through it. David is still grieving, he’s still sad, and he was probably still overwhelmed. But he took one small step of returning home and nourishing his body.
When we experience a major loss—someone just walked out of your life, something precious is taken from us, a dream has died, we get bad news from the doctor—we have to take a first step toward peace.
If we wait until we feel like taking that first step, then we are not going to feel like it for a long, long time. We just have to move forward in faith.
We don’t have to stop mourning to start moving.
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