God built the grief response into us for the purpose of mentally, emotionally and spiritually processing loss-producing events, integrating those events into our altered world, and helping us move on to a state of greater strength, resourcefulness, resilience and faith. If we are not willing to face the grieving process, or if we try a short-cut, we’re left adrift in our sea of pain, never reaching the shorts of strengthening that the Lord intends for us.

As drill instructors love to mention to new recruits, “Pain is simply weakness leaving the body!” In a similar fashion, “Tears are a way God has provided for sadness to leave our body.” If we resist this mechanism, our sorrow may never lose its intensity.