Hello, I'm Sotiel Dixon.

Welcome to today's encouragement from our daily bread, grieving and grateful.

After my mom died, one of her fellow cancer patients approached me.

Your mom was so kind to me, she said, sobbing.

I'm sorry she died instead of me. Your mom was so kind to me, she said, sobbing. I'm sorry she died instead of me. My mom loved you,

I said. We prayed God would let you see your boys grow up. Holding her hands, I wept with her and asked God to help her grief peacefully. I also thanked him for her remission that allowed her to

continue loving her husband and two growing children. The Bible reveals a complexity of grief when

Job lost most everything, including all his children. Job grieved and fell to the ground in worship.

With a heartbreaking and hopeful act of surrender

and expression of gratitude,

he declared in Job 121.

The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.

May the name of the Lord be praised. While Job would struggle

mightily later through his grieving and God's rebuilding of his life, in this moment he accepted

and even rejoiced in God's authority over the good and bad situations. God understands the many ways we process and struggle with emotions.

He invites us to grieve with honesty and vulnerability.

Even when sorrow seems endless and unbearable,

God affirms that he hasn't and won't change.

With this promise, God comforts us and empowers us to be grateful

for his presence.

Join me as I read today's scripture reading. It's taken from the book of Job, chapter 1, verses 13 to 22.

One day, when Job's sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest

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