Favorite Bible Verses to Comfort in Grief
LISA APPELO
“The eternal God is your refuge and underneath are the everlasting arms.” (Deut 33:27)
As brutal as grief is, God gives us a soft landing. In the weeks and months (and years) following my husband’s sudden death, I could palpably feel God’s presence like no other time before. He held me in the palm of His strong hand — a hand that protected me, guided me, provided for our family and kept my foot from slipping. I found that in the most excruciating pain and loss, God tenderly and personally cares for us with hands that always carry us.
Lisa Appelo is author of Life Can Be Good Again: Putting Your World Back Together After It All Falls Apart. She’s a speaker who’s written at Proverbs 31 Ministries, Risen Motherhood, Ann Voskamp, Club31 and more. Find Biblically-based hope to begin to move forward through grief in the FREE guide: 7 Days of Hope for Your Shattered Heart.
CHRISTINE CHAPPELL
When Jesus says, “Now is your time of grief,” He’s acknowledging His disciples’ pain and by extension, ours as well. He doesn’t minimize their sadness, but rather assures them that the sorrows of this world are momentary in comparison to the eternal glory to come. Of all I’m certain to lose in this life, this truest of joys shall ever be mine: nothing—absolutely nothing—can keep me from the eternal embrace of everlasting arms.
Christine Chappell is the Podcast Host of the Hope + Help Podcst at the Institute of Biblical Counseling & Discipleship, Author of Clean Home, Messy Heart: Promises of Renewal, Hope, and Change for Overwhelmed Moms and Help! My Teen is Depressed.
VANEETHA RISNER
“But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.'” (Isaiah 43:1-2 ESV)
This is my go-to passage in suffering because it encourages me not to fear, which is inevitably part of my grief. I’m I’m afraid of the future and this reassures me that because Christ has redeemed me, I need not be afraid. God knows me intimately and calls me by name. He knows all that is hard in my life and will be with me as I endure it, even if it means walking through fire.
Vaneetha Risner is the author of Walking Through Fire: A Memoir of Loss and Redemption in which she chronicles both her bewildering suffering and the breathtaking way Christ met her in it. She and her husband Joel live in Raleigh, NC.
Danita Jenae is a military widow, young mom, author, artist and prayer warrior. She helps the broken-hearted learn to carry both joy and sorrow in the same breath.
DORINA LAZO GILMORE-YOUNG
For your Maker is your husband, the LORD of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called.” (Isaiah 54:5 ESV)
Jodi Rosser is host of the Depth Podcast at Heartbreak to Strength blog.
MISSY LINKLETTER
“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. ” (Rev 21:4 ESV)
Jodie Barrett is a girl who loves Jesus and sharing his word. Jodie is a wife, mom and a new Gigi. Some of her favorite people are her husband, Thomas, and her adult children, Ryan, who resides in heaven, and Lauren, who resides with her husband, Dylan, and their little man, Kolton. She’s and author of Jingle and Joy: Praying Beneath the Tree and a ministry leader with Faithfully Following Ministries.
SARA R. WARD
Sarah E. Westfall is a writer, speaker, and host of Not My Story, a conversational podcast about faith and the unexpected.
TARA DICKSON
“You have known the troubles of my soul, and have not handed me over to the enemy. You have set my feet in a spacious place.” (Psalm 31:7-8 HCSB)
“Peter asked Jesus, ‘What about him, Lord?’ Jesus replied, ‘If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? As for you, follow me.’” (John 21:21-22 NLT)
CLARISSA MOLL
“See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.” (Isaiah 49:16 NIV)
It’s hard to look at my hands these days. More than a year after my husband’s unexpected death, my hands tell the story of a life that’s gone forever. My engagement ring and wedding band slide loosely around my finger, a constant reminder of how sorrow has stolen my appetite one too many days. I wear my husband’s wedding band also, but it’s far too big. It was meant for a larger, stronger hand. My throat tightens as I twirl his ring around my finger. If I close my eyes, I can almost feel his hand in mine.
Grief has made me feel lost and alone, without a hand to hold. And so I’m grateful that, in my sorrow, I am held by a good Heavenly Father who has engraved my name on the palms of His gentle, trustworthy, almighty hands. My hands only tell part of the story. The fuller version is what I see when I look at His. Whatever befall me, His hands tell me I am beloved and I am safe.
Clarissa Moll is a writer and the young widow of author Rob Moll. Her writing has appeared in RELEVANT, Grief Digest, Modern Loss and more. Clarissa offers encouragement and support to grieving people.
Thank you so much for all these beautiful promises! All are my favorites, almost two years since my beautiful Rachel Ruth walked into glory❤️ Psalm 34:18
Sharon, it’s amazing how personal these verses become for us. Grateful you can say, God binds up the deepest wounds.
Still miss my husband after losing him a few years back to brain cancer but so thankful for these shared verses of others loss & grief and know he is well in his eternal home & we will be reunited again! The Lord is my rock, my comfort and my strength!
I happened across your website today, Lisa, and was greatly blessed. I lost my husband 11 years ago to brain cancer. I thank God each day that he was so good to give me the husband he did for 38 years. Athough, I often wishour time together in this life had been longer, I realize he was not mine, but tha he was “lent” to me for those years of marriage. Now he is gloriously in the presence of his faithful Savior. A passage that has really helped me in my times of loneliness is from Psalm 73. (The old addage that “time heals” is not untrue. By God’s mercy, I know I am not in the place I was 11 years ago, but even so, I lost a part of my heart when losing my dearest earthly friend.) This is a precious reminder to me each day that I am nevr alone:
25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.
Just lost my oldest and dearest friend. Tho I realize my tears are more for me, my loss, her family and friends, I know she in His glorious presence. No more pain or sorrow. Thru my sorrow I am so thankful for the faith given to help me believe all His promises.
Thank you. Blessings