And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated. And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days: so the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended.
—Deuteronomy 34:7–8

Death is loss. Is there is anything that has died in your life? Anything. Because grief is associated and attached to loss in our lives...whether it is the loss of innocence, the loss of a loved one, the loss of a dream, or the loss of a relationship.

When there is loss in your life, such as a divorce, nothing is ever the same. It changes the landscape of your life. It doesn't mean better or worse; it just means different. And if you don't process your grief, you won't be prepared for the different season you are entering.

Grieving is vital to closure. I encourage you to move through all these stages of grief:

• First, there's denial—"I can't believe this happened." In denial, you may be temped to say that your loss did not affect you. You cannot begin to heal until you acknowledge your pain.
• Second, you may become angry for being hurt or rejected and say things such as "I didn't deserve this!"
• Third, there's the bargaining stage—"If this happens...then... If God will...then I'll..." Because God doesn't want you to stay stuck in the past, He doesn't bargain with you; He begins to heal you.
• Fourth, there's depression, which leaves you in despair and overwhelming sadness and without hope—and hope is what gives you the power to go on.
• Finally, there's acceptance that what has happened has happened. The truth is that some things may never be made "right" in your life, but you must accept them. That broken marriage may never be restored. Acceptance involves burying what is dead. It's leaving what is "over."

Only if you will go through all the stages will you be able to stand at the end of the process and say, "This happened. It hurt, and I was angry. I no longer am trying to 'deal' with God about it. I've been depressed, but no longer. I accept this as a part of my history, but it is not a part of my future."

Related Texts: Deuteronomy 34:8; 2 Samuel 1:26; Psalm 69:1–3; John 16:20; 1 Thessalonians 4:13–