He began to be deeply distressed and horrified. Then He said to them, My soul is swallowed up in sorrow – to the point of death. Matt. 14:34-35 HCSB

Blessed are they who mourn for they shall be comforted. Matt. 5:4

In Mark, Jesus is horrified, deeply distressed, exceedingly sorrowful (depending on version).  That says to me, those emotions are a Biblical part of the process. Jesus was victorious because He didn’t let them rule, but instead submitted to the Father – multiple times.

Often, what we know to be true about God and His promises does not mean we get around our emotions but through them, and not necessarily quickly or easily. And in spite of how sad we are, we grieve with faith and hope that are certain.

Then I attended a funeral this week, and my pastor said grieving is holy. He was saying that because it’s a blessed process (Matt. 5:4), it’s a holy process. It really grabbed my attention in a way that says to me, Think About This.

Seeing grieving as holy put it in a whole new perspective for me. It’s not just this awful process of accepting loss and making all the adjustments needed to go on. It’s still sad and difficult, but to me holy means set apart to God. I’m set apart to God in a special way during this process.

Practicing the Presence of God was a book I read years ago that had a life-impacting effect on me. But I was practicing His presence while also experiencing the presence of others in my daily life. Now, even with the love and support of family and friends, in my daily life, it’s God and me in a new set apart way.

The presence of God is Holy Ground.