Dealing with grief as a Christian

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I still remember vividly that sunny afternoon several years ago. I was recalled from my training school by my mother with the sad news of the demise of my father. It came as an unexpected shock because my father was not ill neither was he treated for a previous ailment; he was a very healthy man, yet he passed. When I was given the news, my first instinct was to cry and shout my head off in sorrow and I was already doing so until an uncle of mine touched me and said the words
My dear, no need to cry, it is God's will and he is with God
Back then, due to the unbearable sorrow I was in, I found it hard to believe that God could have wished for me to lose my father at 19 years of age and with 7 other siblings to cater for. I tried to ask God, "why?" and all I could think of even after days of his death was to find means to take away my pain by any means.

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Two weeks later during the mass for his repose, the scripture reading which was read from the first letter of Saint Paul to the Thessalonians(4:13-18) really consoled my troubled soul

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. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Many times when we lose our loved ones, a huge part of us dies because we love them and they are so dear to us and we can't help it because it is inevitable and unexpected but the words of St Paul tells us that there is a better place for believers that died, that death is only a transition in glory and it doesn't mean that we've lost them forever as they now rest in the Lord for all eternity.
St Paul also goes to assures us that we will all be united with them during Christ's second coming and that we should be consoled by that fact and not cry hopelessly like unbelievers who have no hope of life after death.
In truth, there is really no right way of dealing with grief. Thinking of my father's loss still brings me great sorrow whenever I remember him. Even Jesus himself in the bible wept when his friend Lazarus died. The scripture said that Jesus wept (John 11:35). And the Bible also said in the book of Mattew 5:4

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted

It simply means that grieving is a part of our human nature and it is something we can't deny or make to disappear through alcohol or drugs but we can accept it and learn to get over it through the grace of God. Christ has delivered a promise to all the believers, even on his cross before his death that those died in Christ will live on forever in his father's kingdom and while we grieve, we should be consoled by that. The book of Revelation 21:4 also delivers great consolation to those who grieve

He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away

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It speaks of new things to come despite what happened in the past, no matter whom we lost, that God our father will wipe our tears and usher us into a new beginning.
Loosing hope is not what God wants for us when we grieve, because He loves us and knows that even when He takes our loved ones from us, He will continue to cater for us and bless us according to His will.
My words of encouragement to those Christian brothers and sisters who grieve because of the loss of a loved one is to remain steadfast in God, never relenting or giving up on life because they are with God in heaven and we will get to meet them again on the last day.
May God continue to grant us the fortitude to bear the loss we have suffered, Amen.

Dedicated to all those who have lost their loved ones everywhere in the world especially in war torn regions