Grief, Suffering & Trials Devotionals

Devotionals for grief, loss, and the hard seasons. No silver linings, no rushing you through it.

Trust is not a feeling. It's a decision you make when you can't see the next step.

Lisa and I lost our daughter LeeBeth suddenly. I don't have the answer to why, and I won't pretend to. What I have is Proverbs 3:5-6, which became our life passage in that hospital, and a path I've actually walked since. The Bible doesn't explain grief away. Job. Lamentations. The Psalms that ask how long. Scripture sits in the dark with you.

These grief devotionals for seasons of suffering, loss, and trial don't rush you. Some days that means the passage and nothing else. Some days it means closing the page. Both are fine. It will still be here when you're ready.

Start Here

From Here to There

John 11:25 reminds us that Jesus is the bridge over death itself, offering resurrection and eternal life to everyone who believes in Him. Because He conquered the grave, we can live with hope instead of fear, trusting Him now and sharing that confidence with others.

All Devotionals

Here I Am, Send Me

Exodus 3:7-10; 4:13-17

Exodus 3:7-10 reveals why God sends anyone at all: he sees the misery, he hears the cries, and he is concerned. His pattern is not to send angels but to send people, flawed and insecure and full of excuses. When Moses finally asks him to pick somebody else, God provides Aaron instead of withdrawing the call. Closing the week, the invitation is willingness: see what God sees, and be willing to go.

Come Near

James 4:8-10 demands both clean hands and a pure heart, refusing the half-measures of outward behavior without inward reality. James even calls us to grieve our sin rather than excuse it, because real humility doesn't manage failure, it brings it into the open. The promise on the other side of that honesty is that God lifts up the one who humbles himself. The call is to name the double-mindedness in one area and bring it to him without pretense.

What Holds and What Blows Away

Psalm 1:4–6 contrasts the rooted life with the chaff that the wind blows away, and reminds us that the storm always reveals what we're built on. The promise isn't that the wind will spare us, but that the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, and the foundation we build now is what holds later.

When, Not If

James 1:1–2 doesn't say if trials come, but whenever. As we begin the Stay Close series, we're reminded that difficulty is part of every season, and the joy James commands isn't a response to the pain but to what the pain produces under the presence of a God who stays close.

The Pruning

John 15:2 reminds us that God’s pruning, though painful, is not abandonment but loving preparation, cutting away even good things to make room for deeper fruitfulness. When life feels like loss, we can trust that the Gardener is still tending us with purpose, shaping us for something better than we can yet see.

Questions

How long is each devotional?

About five minutes. One passage, a short reflection from Ed, and one thing to do or say that day.

What if I'm not ready to read anything yet?

Then don't. Come back when you are. The Psalms of lament are here for the day you can read one, and Ed has walked this road himself. Nothing here expects you to be further along than you are.

Does this explain why God allows suffering?

No, and Ed is honest that he can't either. What these do is walk through what Scripture says about trusting God inside pain, one passage at a time.