Creativity Flows In Our Grief

Good morning…

As I wake in the dark of this night, I notice three unique things. The heat has kicked on, as temperatures drop. The wind chimes are going wild, as the breeze picks up. And my mind is flooded with prayers for my friend, as she prepares to lay her husband to final rest today.

Then I think back to the start of this week. On Monday, I was asked to write a morning message for our community at Northside Church, a daily devotional practice brought to life by a variety of staff members. Here is the wisdom God flowed through me.

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Creativity Flows In Our Grief by Sue Allen, Women’s Ministry Director

2 Kings 4:1-7 is a Bible story I have never heard before. It is about a wife and mother who suddenly becomes a widow, a widow who has no idea how she will live without her husband. In verse two we pick up the story.

“What can I do to help you?” Elisha asked. “Tell me, what do you have in the house?”

“Nothing at all, except a flask of olive oil,” she replied.

Then the Spirit of God sparks a creative idea.

And Elisha said, “Borrow as many empty jars as you can from your friends and neighbors. Then go into your house with your sons and shut the door behind you. Pour olive oil from your flash into the jars, setting each one aside when it is filled.”

So she did as she was told. Her sons kept bringing jars to her, and she filled one after another. Soon every container was filled to the brim!

“Bring me another jar,” she said to one of her sons.

“There aren’t any more!” he told her. And the olive oil stopped flowing.

When she told the man of God what had happened, he said to her, “Now sell the olive oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on what is left over.”

In about an hour, I am going to visit with a wife and a mother who will bury her deeply love husband this week. I wonder if her heart is filled with a similar question, “God, how will live on without my husband?”

If we expand upon the creativity God revealed in our Bible story today, might my friend follow a similar pathway forward?

• Seek help from people of God.
• Notice what you have.
• Borrow much from friends and neighbors.
• Circle up with family and shut the door behind you.
• Collect and set aside the gifts flowing as you grieve.
• Do the things God guides you to do.
• You and your family will continue to live on what God pours out.

Might we all follow the lead of this widow as we live through our own seasons of grief? Seek help. Notice resources. Borrow much. Circle up. Collect gifts. Follow guidance. Live on with God.

With so much tragic loss across our globe, might God’s abundant creativity flow from one heartbroken prayer? “God, how will I live on?”

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As I visited with my friend that morning, she was preparing for today’s celebration of life for her beloved husband, Kent Smith. Today, November 1st, happens to be All Saints Day, a day when we honor loved ones who have gone to heaven, those whose quiet sainthood is known by God. Seems like a fitting day to celebrate the well-lived life of Kent.

As I was leaving their home on Monday, Karen played for me the song below, a song a friend will play on his guitar at the service today. What a wonderful tribute to a lifetime of love. You have taken note of my journey through life, caught each of my tears in Your bottle (Psalm 56:8a, VOICE).

…Sue…