The grieving process has five clear stages and the stages often overlap and recur. The last blog explained denial and anger. Here are two more: bargaining and depression.
The third stage of grief is bargaining with God for relief from the awful event and its consequences. You may find yourself secretly trying to cut a deal with God, vowing to change your behavior if He will bring back your loved one or make the pain or the reality of separation go away. The plea to God is often motivated by a sense of false guilt over not being a better Christian, fearing that you caused the tragedy in some way. You may be prompted to try to cut a deal with God both to change the circumstance and make up for perceived failures.
Another stage of grief is depression, which comes when you realize that your loved one is really gone. It's the feeling of overwhelming sadness or hopelessness over the loss. Depression may be accompanied by fear, anxiety or insecurity about living without your loved one. Intense loneliness is another facet of depression. (To be continued.)
Some Christians at my college challenged me to prove that the Bible was not accurate. As a skeptic, I spent 2 years trying to do this, and concluded that the Bible that we have today describes accurately what was said and done 2000 years ago. When I then read the Bible, I saw that God wanted a personal relationship with me. I want you to see that God also wants a personal relationship with you, one that you can depend upon in your life.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Bargaining and Depression
Labels:
acceptance,
anger,
comfort,
death,
denial,
depression,
grief,
guilt,
Josh McDowell,
support
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