Grief and Faith Journey: Learning to Hear God Again

GOD, IS THAT YOU?

A journey into truth, grief, and learning to listen again

“Let the dead bury the dead.”

I kept hearing it—repeatedly. Over time it began to anchor my soul.

That is the danger of not slowing down long enough to have a conversation with God about every little thing. Could it be that your relationship with him is not as close as you would like it to be? Do you long for a more intimate relationship with your first love? Is he still your first love?

I kept hearing,"Let the dead bury the dead" as it related to my son's death. Since I am a "believer," I was leaning on what I believed to be the words of Jesus, but what I actually did was attach my soul to a lie.  

When a Thought Sounds Helpful—but Isn’t

That’s how deception often works--it’s rarely obvious. It disguises itself as helpful, stabilizing, or convenient. And that is exactly how it happened for Eve. I should have known better. I did know better, but grief has a way of lowering your defenses.

I was trying to stay afloat in the storm and in the aftermath of my son’s death. The aftermath is often more grueling than the initial shock. When everyone else is back to business as usual, you're still picking up the pieces of your shattered heart.

I was reaching out for anything that helped me to not emotional linger at the grave, and it bolstered my resolve to not purchase a headstone for my son's grave.

Grief will have you accepting a lie--if it offers enough comfort. Accepting comfort, cloaked in deception, as I would soon discover, is costly.

On August 21, 2024, the seventh anniversary of my son's death, grief loosed its hold on me and from that moment, I have not experienced triggers related to his death, there is no more sadness when I think about those special days--birthdays--anniversaries, etc., no more dark clouds of depression, none of that. So the other day, I heard it again--"Let the dead bury the dead." Even though it was familiar, something about it on this side of my grief journey wanted to dig deeper into the meaning.

At the beginning of 2026, I set my intention to really listen to hear God' voice. I believe now is the time for believers to attune their ears to hear the shepherds voice clearly.

John 10:27 reminds me that I have an edge, in this respect, because I do have the ability to hear his voice. The bonus is, God knows me. He sees me, and in my decision to follow him, I am aligning my focus so I won't get duped again. I was leaning on a familiar phrase, but in my search for clarity, I began to check my internal library of phrases I've leaned on without scrutiny.

Next: The Moment the Lie Was Exposed