A dear friend of mine recently experienced an unexpected change of employment. After 30 years of service to his job and his community, he was “moved” to a new position in order for someone coming up the ranks to be trained in his job. It was a devastating blow and caused emotional turmoil. Suffering this kind of loss is akin to grieving a death. Because it IS a death. The death of the life that was planned. The death of a career. The death of an identity.

I’m very proud of my friend for being proactive and making the difficult decision to go to an entirely new town where he and his wife know no one. New house. New town. New job. These are major life changes that can bring sadness. But they can also bring back long dormant waves of grief surrounding a loss from even many years ago. Being proactive and making changes will hopefully help them cope by giving them lots of things to keep them busy as they work through their feelings.

Life is so unpredictable. Jobs are lost. Health fails. Friends or family members die. Our boats can be tossed on stormy seas. And once grief has struck, it’s much easier to get swept away by the churning sea. The thing to remember is, the waves may be rough now, but there will be calmer seas ahead.

❤️

“When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.”

Isaiah 43:2 NLT