Will buying a zoo help?
The movie We Bought A Zoo is based on the true story of Benjamin Mee, a man who loses his wife to cancer and is left to raise their two children alone. Ignoring his pain and his misery, he tries to move forward but finds that everything around him reminds him of his wife. He takes the drastic step of moving and buying a zoo in order to completely transform his surroundings and escape the pain he has refused to face.
Getting through it
Matthew 5:4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”
Mourning is natural
In ancient times, men didn’t live long, and death and loss were far more common than today. To get through it, they developed a process called mourning, a time when they would feel and express their sorrow. When Isaac died, he was mourned for 70 days (Genesis 50:3), Moses for thirty days. (Deuteronomy 34:8)
When they mourned, they wailed, they cried, and they allowed others to comfort them.
Job 2:13 “Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was.”
Does anyone understand?
You are not alone
True comfort
Isaiah 51:12 “I, even I, am he who comforts you.”
Rock, fortress, deliverer
When Jesus arrived, He knew before He was told that Lazarus was dead. Though no one knew it, He had come there specifically to bring Lazarus back to life. He knew that in mere minutes, Lazarus would be standing among them and their sorrow would turn to Joy, but as He walked with them towards the tomb, He cried.
Taking their pain away
Psalm 18:2 "The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold."
He will dry your tears
Find hope in the knowledge that God is all powerful, and He didn’t just create a universe of heat, earth, water, and life with no purpose. He knew exactly what He was doing, and exactly what would happen as He did it.
Revelation 21:4 “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."
God's plan is perfect
He wants to get you through this
God wants to get you through this.
Lean on Him and seek Him in your pain, and you will. And eventually the sun will be bright for you once more.
Hope
His is a story of hope and new beginnings – of losing someone truly loved and accepting that there is no moving on.
Instead, we continue to live … finding joy even though the emptiness will never be filled.