In the Labyrinth of Grief: 40 Words of God that Offer Comfort

By Jos Douma

In the Labyrinth of Grief
40 Words of God that Offer Comfort

Brief meditations for those in sorrow

When death enters our life, a process begins that we refer to as grieving. This is a confusing process that is accompanied by different emotions such as sadness, unbelief, relief, anger, resignation, depression, despair, and even new joy in life.

The image of the labyrinth helps us to accept that grieving is a complex process in which we learn to accept the empty place and seek to come to grips with all our emotions.

The forty short meditations in this book were written with the goal that we might allow ourselves to be comforted from God's Word and that-in all our confusing emotions-we may know ourselves to be secure in the God who gives us hope.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Resource Publications
• Release date: Jun 4, 2009
• ISBN: 9781498276689

Jos Douma

Jos Douma is pastor of the Founteinkerk in Haarlem, the Netherlands, and author of the Jesus trilogy: Jezus ontdekken (Discovering Jesus), Jezus aanbidden (Worshipping Jesus), and Jezus uitstralen (Radiating Jesus). He runs a busy website at http://www.josdouma.nl/. He and his wife Joke have four sons and live in Haarlem, the Netherlands. Dick Moes is pastor of the Surrey Covenant Reformed Church (URCNA) in Surrey, BC, Canada. He is the author of: Cultivating a God-generated Life: Being embedded with Christ in the Father through the advance installment of the Holy Spirit (www.godgeneratedlife.com). He and his wife Elsina have five children and seven grandchildren. They live in Langley, BC, Canada.

Book preview

In the Labyrinth of Grief

40 Words of God that Offer Comfort

Jos Douma

Translated by Dick Moes

2008.Resource_logo.jpg

In the Labyrinth of Grief

40 Words of God that Offer Comfort

Copyright © 2009 Jos Douma. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3, Eugene, OR 97401.

Resource Publishing

A Division of Wipf and Stock Publishers

199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3

Eugene, OR 97401

www.wipfandstock.com

ISBN 13: 978-1-60608-791-6

EISBN 13: 978-1-4982-7668-9

Manufactured in the U.S.A.

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Originally published in Dutch as In het doolhof van de rouw: 40 bijbelwoorden die troost bieden by Uitgeverij Kok, Kampen, 2008.

English translation © 2009 by Dick Moes.

Table of Contents

Title Page

Foreword

On Grieving and Comforting

Day 1: Overwhelmed with Grief

Day 2: Tears

Day 3: Your Burden

Day 4: Whispering His Name

Day 5: Downcast and Disturbed

Day 6: Eternal Pleasures at Your Right Hand

Day 7: In a Valley of Deep Darkness

Day 8: My Life into Your Hands

Day 9: Light

Day 10: Wounded

Day 11: I Cry Out!

Day 12: Your Consolation

Day 13: You See the Grief

Day 14: The Rock of My Existence

Day 15: The Suffering and the Glory

Day 16: The Spirit Groans

Day 17: Nothing Can Separate Us from God’s Love

Day 18: Living in Darkness

Day 19: Bruised and Smoldering

Day 20: Crushed in Spirit

Day 21: All Things Work Together for Good

Day 22: Pruning and Bearing Fruit

Day 23: A Kernel of Wheat

Day 24: Christ in Life and Death

Day 25: Being Able to Do Everything

Day 26: Always Rejoicing?

Day 27: Grace and Peace

Day 28: I Am the Life

Day 29: I Am the Way

Day 30: I Am the Good Shepherd

Day 31: Mourners Are Comforted

Day 32: Trust in the Light

Day 33: Come to Jesus

Day 34: No More Tears

Day 35: Everything New

Day 36: Eternal Life

Day 37: Alpha and Omega

Day 38: Faith Remains

Day 39: Hope Remains

Day 40: The Greatest Is Love

Foreword

We all have to deal with loss and grief in our lives since we are mortal human beings. Our health, for which we are thankful, can suddenly turn into sickness. Our plans for our life, which bring us so much happiness, can be overtaken by death—sometimes quite suddenly, sometimes after a long struggle with illness and decreasing strength. How do we deal with this loss and grief?

The texts in this little book were occasioned by the death of three people in my congregation in a period of two months. We traveled