How do you bear old grief? The kind that lingers much longer than the sympathy cards and casseroles on your counter. Or the silent grief you shoulder alone that doesn’t come with check-in texts or meal trains but still threatens to spill out like the hot, messy tears you shed in private. The kind of grief that feels discouraging, overwhelming, and alienating because it spreads through you like ice water in your veins, touching every part of your being while those around you continue on with normal life, seemingly unaffected.
Dear friend, God does not leave you to your own devices even when the depths of isolating grief feel overwhelming. Through His Word, He graciously offers comfort for the brokenhearted, strength for the weary, and hope that doesn’t depend on circumstances.
If the rivers of grief are threatening to overflow today, here are five comforts to cling to.
1. The Lord Sees You
Genesis 16 tells the story of Hagar, Sarah’s maidservant who was given to Abraham to bear a child then fled to the wilderness after being mistreated by Sarah. While there, an angel told her that the Lord had heard her cry of affliction. She then called God El Roi, which means the God who sees.
When grief presses in, it’s natural for your heart to want someone else to see and acknowledge your pain. In some seasons you might receive that reassurance, but in others you might not. This passage serves as a reminder that even when no one else is aware of your grief, God is not blind to your circumstances and suffering. Your grief has not taken Him by surprise, and He is not indifferent to it.
Psalm 56:8 says, “You yourself have recorded my wanderings. Put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?” This verse reminds us that God, in His sovereign care, records our every step and preserves our tears—knowing and ordaining even our deepest sorrows for His wise and gracious purposes.
What a comfort it is to know that the almighty God of the universe sees you—every tear you cry, every ache of your heart, every prayer you can barely whisper.
2. He Draws Near to You
Not only does the Lord see your grief, He also draws near to you in it. Psalm 34:18 says, “The LORD is near the brokenhearted; he saves those crushed in spirit.” Like a father draws near to a hurting child, so the Lord is tender and compassionate to His children (Psalm 103:13). The hymn “Whate’er My God Ordains Is Right” puts it this way:
Though sorrow, need, or death be mine,
yet I am not forsaken.
My Father’s care is ’round me there.
He holds me that I shall not fall.1
Though the way of grief may feel lonely, you are never abandoned in it. Your heavenly Father is close beside you. His presence is your unfailing refuge and strength. He is keeping you and will not let you fall.
Even when the shadows press in and you cannot sense His presence, He has not left your side. Hebrews 13:5 reminds us that “he himself has said, I will never leave you or abandon you.” Though your feelings might tempt you to doubt His nearness, God’s promises remain true and steadfast. Cling to them.
3. He Understands Your Pain
When carrying grief and pain, one thing that can make the valley seem deeper and more isolating is the feeling that no one else understands your pain. Recently on the Revive Our Hearts Weekend podcast, Joni Eareckson Tada discussed the times when her quadriplegia and chronic pain made her feel emotionally cratered. She remarked, “I think that nobody really can understand your pain, except the Lord Jesus.”2
Even if no other human being on this planet understands your pain or grief, you can take heart in knowing that Jesus does.
Isaiah 53:3 says that Jesus was “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (ESV). And Hebrews 4:15 reminds us that “we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin.” As the Lord comforts you in your affliction, He is not indifferent. He understands deeply and walks alongside you as One who knows great suffering.
4. He Will Supply All Your Needs
When Paul wrote to the Philippian believers, he told them, “My God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (4:19). Paul didn’t promise that the Lord would change our circumstances, remove pain from our lives, or give us everything we ask for. But Paul was confident that the Lord would supply the needs of the believer.
In a short poem he wrote for a sermon in 1996, John Piper describes this concept beautifully:
Not grace to bar what is not bliss,
Nor flight from all distress,
But this: the grace that orders our
trouble and pain,
And then in the darkness is
there to sustain.3
Even in the darkness of grief, God is faithfully supplying your needs. He is giving you grace; He is giving you strength; He is giving you Himself. His grace is sufficient for you, and His power is made perfect in your weakness (2 Cor. 12:9).
5. He Is Making All Things New
Grief can feel like it will last forever, but as believers, earthly pain and suffering are only one part of our story. First Peter 5:10 reminds us, “The God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, establish, strengthen, and support you after you have suffered a little while.”
Our Creator is making all things new. Even when the night feels endless, the morning is coming. Even when all you can see is pain, the One seated on the throne declares that pain will not have the final word.
“Look, I am making everything new.” He also said, “Write, because these words are faithful and true.” (Revelation 21:5)
These words are not an empty comfort; they are faithful and true. One day, the Lord will wipe away every tear, and death, mourning, and pain will be no more (Rev. 21:4). Until that day, hold on. Fix your eyes on Jesus, your living hope, who has conquered the grave, walks with you in every sorrow, and is preparing a place where joy will never end.
1 “Whate’er My God Ordains Is Right,” Samuel Rodigast (1675)
2 Joni Eareckson Tada, “Sorrowful, but Always Rejoicing,” Revive Our Hearts Weekend, August 2, 2025, https://www.reviveourhearts.com/podcast/weekend/sorrowful-yet-always-rejoicing/?utm_source=blog&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=roh+blog&se=RZZDEE1AA1.
3 John Piper, “Sustained by Sovereign Grace—Forever,” Desiring God, June 16, 1996, https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/sustained-by-sovereign-grace-forever.
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