Pulled Between Grief and Hope

Yesterday, I was reminded of something powerful about grief.

I was in a room full of people gathered to celebrate a milestone birthday—my brother-in-law's 40th birthday. There was laughter, conversation, food, and for a moment, everything felt normal.

For a little while, it felt as though life had returned to what it once was.

Then suddenly, someone began to cry.

Not the kind of tears you can quickly wipe away and move past.

The kind that come from deep within.

The kind that remind us that some losses are real.

That some people are gone.

That some chapters have ended.

And in a matter of seconds, the atmosphere in the room shifted.

What struck me wasn't the sadness itself.

It was the realization that so many of us are living in that same tension every day.

Part of us is being pulled forward by faith.

By purpose.

By hope.

By the promises of God.

And another part of us is being pulled backward by grief.

By disappointment.

By exhaustion.

By fear.

By unanswered questions.

As I sat there, I realized that this is where many of us find ourselves today.

Standing between what was and what could be.

Standing between pain and healing.

Standing between loss and restoration.

Sometimes it feels as though two forces are fighting over our hearts.

One is calling us toward the future God has prepared for us.

The other keeps pulling us back into what we have lost.

One reminds us that God still has a purpose for our lives.

The other replays every disappointment, every betrayal, every heartbreak, and every unanswered prayer.

And perhaps one of the hardest realities of life is that the world keeps moving while we're still healing.

The days continue.

The months pass.

Birthdays are celebrated.

People laugh again.

Life moves forward.

Meanwhile, we are still learning how to carry what happened.

We are still learning how to live with what changed.

We are still learning how to trust God with what we don't understand.

But somewhere in that process, we must make a decision.

Not because our pain isn't real.

Not because grief should be ignored.

Not because healing happens overnight.

But because pain was never meant to become our permanent address.

Grief deserves to be acknowledged.

It deserves to be felt.

It deserves to be honored.

But it was never meant to become the place where we build our future.

Healing begins when we allow ourselves to feel the pain without allowing the pain to define us.

Healing begins when we acknowledge what we lost while remaining open to what God still wants to do.

Healing begins when we keep taking small steps forward, even when our hearts feel heavy.

Today, I want to ask you:

Have you ever felt pulled by two different forces?

What is trying to pull you backward?

Is it grief?

Fear?

Regret?

Disappointment?

An unanswered prayer?

A painful season you cannot seem to move beyond?

And what is calling you forward?

Faith?

Purpose?

A dream?

A promise God placed in your heart?

A future you cannot fully see yet?

And perhaps the most important question of all:

Which one are you choosing to follow today?

My prayer is that even if your heart is tired, your faith will be stronger than the force trying to pull you back.

Because healing doesn't happen by pretending the pain isn't there.

Healing happens when, despite the pain, we continue moving toward the life God is calling us to live.

The truth is that God never asks us to deny our grief.

He simply asks us not to remain there forever.

He invites us to bring our pain to Him and trust that He can transform it into something beautiful.

Something meaningful.

Something redemptive.

And if you find yourself being pulled in different directions today, know this:

You are not weak because you are grieving.

You are not failing because you are struggling.

You are human.

And God is still with you in the tension.

He is with you in the questions.

He is with you in the waiting.

And He is gently calling you forward.

Forward into healing.

Forward into purpose.

Forward into the next chapter He is writing for your life.

Because you were not created to stay stuck in your pain.

You were created to rise.

With love,

Kristel RobinsonFounder, Can't Break Me Retreats