Grieving, But With Hope: Bible Verses About Grief

Loving people is good, but it can also be risky. Our emotional attachments to people, cherished hopes and dreams, places, and beloved family pets are a risk because we become vulnerable to loss. Loss is never easy to stomach. It turns our lives upside down as we begin the grieving process, grappling with what the loss means for our lives going forward. Here are several Bible verses about grief to help you grieve with hope.

Bible Verses about Grief

You may have experienced loss through the death of a loved one, divorce, the breakdown of a significant relationship, or a cherished dream such as graduating from college that has been shattered. No matter your loss, it’s painful to go through it.

Grief as a process.

Grieving loss isn’t something you do all in one go. We can make the mistake of thinking that having a good cry, or an emotional outburst means that we’ve exhausted the well of our emotions concerning the loss. However, grief is more complicated than that. Grief can come in waves, or it can affect us years down the line.

Elisabeth Kübler-Ross was the first to suggest that grief is a process that goes through various stages: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. These stages are not linear.

It is possible to think you’re over your anger at God for losing your loved one, for example, only to find it boiling up when you read a certain passage of Scripture. You can feel like you’re over your divorce until you receive a coupon in the mail that reminds you of your former spouse. Or you can feel like you’ve mourned and moved on from the death of a loved one until you come across a smell that reminds you of them.

Being aware that grief is a process helps you prepare for how unpredictable your grief is, and it helps you recognize that you are never truly done with grieving. You simply learn how to cope and live life with the loss.

Give yourself room to grieve.

The Bible gives us room to grieve; indeed, it is the right response to loss, especially death. Jesus expressed sorrow over Jerusalem knowing He would be rejected by the leaders there, and that it would lead to the destruction of Jerusalem.

“‘Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.’” (Matthew 23:37)

Other passages in Scripture remind us that it is okay to lament, to cry out to God when we feel abandoned, angry, or even hopeless. Psalm 13 reads “How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?” (Psalm 13:1-4)

Grieving with hope.

It is right for believers to grieve whatever loss they experience. However, that experience of grief is one laced with hope because of Who God is. “Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.” (1 Thessalonians‬ 4:13-15)

We can live with hope that God will ultimately wipe every tear from our eyes because He is bringing about a world in which ‬‬”There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Revelation‬ 21:4)

Help for grieving.

You don’t have to grieve by yourself. There are grief support groups where you can meet and journey with others who are grieving. Additionally, individual counseling for grief can help you process your experiences and unpack your feelings to help you cope with life after loss. If you’re looking for additional support beyond these Bible verses for grief, browse our counselor directory to find a Christian counselor in California who can help.