Making Empty Chairs Altars

I see you.

Trying to hold it all together as all the holiday festivities begin.

The grief is really heavy.

The empty chair.

Maybe it was supposed to be filled this year, and it’s not.

Dreams and prayers did not come to pass.

Or maybe they died.

The grief weighs more today than yesterday.

And that’s okay.

You’re not a burden just because you’re grieving. Grief and gratitude can exist together.

You can be overwhelmed by gratitude for what the Lord has done in your life and given you, and still grieve.

What you had hoped things would look like.

What once was.

We grieve, but not as those with no hope, not as others.

This is the beginning of the season in which we celebrate the first coming of Christ.

“Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows…” Isaiah 53:4

He came to save.

But he came to carry your griefs too.

He carried it all, so you would never have to walk a day alone.

So if there is an empty chair this thanksgiving, and the grief is weighing on you heavily…

You can be grateful and grieving.

He has borne your griefs and carried your sorrows. This is part of why he came.

So you would never have to do this alone.

When your heart aches to rejoice, but grief presses you into the dust, just worship him there.

Make the empty chair your altar.